Marc Nathanson
| Marc B Nathanson | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 12, 1945 |
| Residence | Los Angeles |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | BA and MA |
| Alma mater | University of Denver and University of California Santa Barbara |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Known for | Founding Falcon Cable, American billionaire |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Nathanson |
| Children | Adam Nathanson |
Marc Nathanson (May 12, 1945) is an American entrepreneur. He is best known for his founding of Falcon Cable, which he sold in 1999 for $3.7 billion. He is also known as an investor and philanthropist.
Nathanson was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles and raised in Glencoe, Illinois and Highland Park, Illinois. His father, Don Paul "D.P." Nathanson was an investor in the radio and cable industry, operated an advertising agency, and was the publisher of Radio Showmanship, a magazine that focused on how to use radio for advertising. His great uncle was Nathan Nathanson, the founder of Famous Players. Nathanson graduated from Highland Park High School and graduated the University of Denver in 1967. His first job was as a door-to-door salesman selling cable to people in their homes. In 1969 he took a job with Cypress Communications Corporation in Malibu, California, where he then became head of marketing, which was sold to Warner Cable in 1973. He also earned an MA from the University of California Santa Barbara.
After working with Able Cable, Nathanson became the vice-president of marketing and programming for TelePromptTer in 1972. In 1975 he left the company to start his own firm called Falcon Cable, with a self-investment of $25,000. He then received a $2 million investment from his father and father-in-law, in addition to $6 million from a bank loan. The first cable systems he ran were in Gilroy, Porterville and San Luis Obispo, California. The umbrella corporation for the cable company and Nathanson's other ventures was Falcon Holding Group, which Nathanson served as president for until 1999. The corporation included Falcon International Communications and Falcon International. He also served as the company's CEO from 1975 until its sale in 1999. From 1988 to 1999 he also served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Enstar Communications Corp. He served as Chairman of the Board for each of the companies as well.
Falcon Cable grew to over one million subscribers in 26 states between the early 1980s and 1992, becoming the largest independent cable company in California. According to the Los Angeles Times, "While many larger cable TV companies have scrambled to wire major metropolitan areas with flashy, 75-channel, state-of-the-art cable TV systems, Falcon has found success in operating no-frills systems in areas that get poor TV reception."
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