Charles B Wang was a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc.
36 Facts About Charles Wang
2.
Charles Wang was a minority owner of the NHL's New York Islanders ice hockey team and their AHL affiliate.
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In 1976, at age 31, Wang launched Computer Associates, using credit cards for funding.
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Charles Wang then grew Computer Associates into one of the country's largest ISVs.
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Charles Wang authored two books to help executives master technology: Techno Vision and Techno Vision II.
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Charles Wang was an active philanthropist, working with such organizations as Smile Train, the World Childhood Foundation, the Islanders Children's Foundation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, among others.
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Charles B Wang was born in Shanghai to parents Kenneth and Mary Wang.
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Charles Wang has two brothers, Anthony W Wang and Francis Wang.
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Charles Wang's father was a Supreme Court judge in the Republic of China.
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Charles Wang attended Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
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Charles Wang earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Queens College and began his computer career at Columbia University's Riverside Research Institute.
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All told, Charles Wang engaged in several dozen acquisitions and those acquired facilities were repopulated with Computer Associates employees.
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Charles Wang was known for his commitment to a family-oriented management style, and for promoting several women to management positions.
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In 1979, three years after the company's founding, Charles Wang had installed his older brother Tony, a one-time corporate lawyer, as president and COO.
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In 1998, Charles Wang had initiated a $9 billion hostile takeover for the shares of Computer Sciences Corporation.
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The benchmark was met in 1998, and the three executives combined received nearly $1 billion in Computer Associates stock with Charles Wang himself netting $700 million; he had already been the highest paid CEO in the US for the prior four years.
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Charles Wang was a minority owner of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League franchise, of which he had become a part-owner in 2000, and majority owner from 2001 to 2016.
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Charles Wang later purchased the share of business partner Sanjay Kumar in 2004, and acquired the original Iowa Barnstormers Arena Football League franchise, moving them to Long Island and renaming them the New York Dragons.
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Charles Wang hired Neil Smith as the Islanders' general manager during the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, but 40 days later Smith was fired due to his unwillingness to adhere to the "management by committee" style of Charles Wang.
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Charles Wang then gave the job to Garth Snow, who subsequently retired from his playing position as the team's backup goaltender.
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Charles Wang said that "philosophical differences" were the basis for firing Smith.
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Charles Wang made numerous efforts to build a new arena in Nassau County, as the Veterans Memorial Coliseum was the second-oldest active arena, and the Islanders lease ended in 2015.
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Charles Wang was the master developer of The Lighthouse Project, a property transformation of the Nassau Coliseum and surrounding 150 acres.
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The project was deemed to be too large by Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, who made a counter-proposal that was about half the size of what Charles Wang had originally intended.
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Charles Wang balked at Murray's proposal, and decided to try to finance the building of a new arena for the Islanders with public funds, rather than paying for it himself as part of the Lighthouse Project.
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Charles Wang had stated that he would not have bought the team if he knew how difficult it would be, and would not do so if he had the choice over again.
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Ultimately Charles Wang was unable to secure a renovated or new arena in Uniondale.
28.
Jeff Wilpon, the COO of Major League Baseball's New York Mets, discussed the possibility of buying the Islanders from Charles Wang and moving them adjacent to the Mets' home ballpark, Citi Field in Flushing, Queens.
29.
On October 24,2012, Charles Wang announced that the Islanders would move to the Barclays Center in 2015, after the end of their lease at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
30.
In various interviews, Charles Wang said that "it was Brooklyn, or out of town".
31.
Charles Wang worked with such causes as Smile Train, the World Childhood Foundation, the Plainview Chinese Cultural Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, among others.
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Charles Wang funded the expansion of the Chinatown Health Clinic which was renamed the Charles B Wang Community Health Center.
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One of the more important attributes that Charles Wang brought to his ownership of the Islanders was to expand their community-based programs through the Islanders Children's Foundation, which started in 2003 and has become a mainstay.
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Charles Wang recruited women's professional hockey player, Angela Ruggiero, to the project as well.
35.
On May 3,2009, Charles Wang was honored by the Los Angeles Chinese Historical Society of Southern California in "Celebrating Chinese Americans in Sports".
36.
Charles Wang died of lung cancer at his home in Cove Neck on October 21,2018, at the age of 74.