38 Facts About Tom Golisano

Blase Thomas Golisano was born on November 14,1941 and is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.

Tom Golisano is the founder of Paychex, which offers payroll and human resources services to businesses.

Tom Golisano owned Greenlight Networks, a fiber internet provider based in Rochester, New York, from 2019 to 2022.

Tom Golisano owned the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League from 2003 to 2011.

Tom Golisano unsuccessfully ran for Governor of New York as a third-party candidate in 1994,1998, and 2002.

Tom Golisano started the company with $3,000 and a credit card.

Tom Golisano served as its president and Chief Executive Officer from 1971 to October 2004.

Tom Golisano has been the Chairman of Paychex since October 1,2004, and its Director since 1979.

However in 2022, Tom Golisano sold his controlling equity shares of Greenlight Networks to the investment firm Oak Hill.

The 2020 Forbes 400 list stated that Tom Golisano was the 238th wealthiest person in America with a net worth of $3.4 billion as of September 2020.

Tom Golisano is a former co-owner of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and of the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team.

Tom Golisano purchased the Sabres from the NHL who had stripped the team from their previous owner John Rigas, the former Adelphia CEO who was charged and convicted of bank fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud and had owned the team since 1997.

Tom Golisano sold the Sabres and its assets to billionaire Terrence Pegula in February 2011.

Tom Golisano made a bid for the bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in early 2012, but his group was eventually outbid by a consortium led by Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners.

Tom Golisano is a founding member of the Independence Party of New York and ran on its ticket for governor of New York in 1994,1998 and 2002.

Tom Golisano spent a combined $93 million on the three campaigns.

Tom Golisano changed his party affiliation to Republican, with the Independence Party's chairman's blessing, in October 2005, apparently in preparation for another gubernatorial run.

In February 2006, Tom Golisano announced that he would not run for the governorship.

In July 2008, Tom Golisano formed a PAC called Responsible New York and funded it with $5 million of his own money.

In October 2008, Tom Golisano voiced his opinion in favor of term limits for public offices in New York City.

In June 2009, Tom Golisano took partial credit for creating the 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis in which Republicans temporarily seized control of a body that still retained a Democratic enrollment edge.

Tom Golisano, who had supported a number of Democratic Party candidates during the 2008 election, was dissatisfied with things like the Democrats' effort to solve the state's budget crisis by raising taxes on New York's wealthiest residents.

Tom Golisano orchestrated the defection of Democratic senators Pedro Espada Jr.

In February 2011, Tom Golisano became the spokesman for National Popular Vote Inc.

In January 2018, Tom Golisano announced the formation of a campaign called Tax My Property Fairly.

In October 2008, Golisano donated $10 million to Niagara University for a new B Thomas Golisano Center for Integrated Sciences building.

In November 2009, Tom Golisano donated $4 million to Ave Maria University for the construction of a new field house.

In 2012, Tom Golisano donated $12 million to the Special Olympics to launch the Healthy Communities initiative.

Tom Golisano made an additional commitment of $25 million to Special Olympics in 2015 to expand Healthy Communities to 100 locations around the world.

Also in 2012, Tom Golisano donated $20 million to build a new Tom Golisano Children's Hospital at Lee Health in southwest Florida which opened in Spring 2017.

In September 2016, Tom Golisano gave $7.5 million to Nazareth College for a new athletic training center that will aim to be a model of inclusion, fitness and wellness, and is expected to open in 2018.

Also in September 2016, Tom Golisano gave $2 million to the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council for equipment.

Tom Golisano donated $14 million to the University of Rochester, which renamed their pediatric facility at Strong Memorial Hospital the Tom Golisano Children's Hospital in 2002.

In 2012, Tom Golisano pledged an additional $20 million to URMC to build a new Tom Golisano Children's Hospital, which opened in 2015.

Tom Golisano founded the Tom Golisano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship in Brighton, NY, that will open in the fall 2023.

Tom Golisano hired Ian Mortimer, who was previously the associate provost at the Rochester Institute of Technology, as the school's first president.

In February 2020, Tom Golisano released Built, Not Born: A Self-Made Billionaire's No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs, co-authored by Mike Wicks.

Three times divorced, Tom Golisano is married to former tennis player Monica Seles.