Cablevision CEO James Dolan has been hospitalized and is expected to undergo heart surgery Monday, his company said.
The 50-year-old billionaire entrepreneur checked into a hospital Saturday to prepare for bypass surgery.
"His physicians expect him to make a full and complete recovery," the company said in a statement.
Dolan has been CEO for 10 years of Cablevision Systems Corp., which owns Madison Square Garden, the Knicks and the Rangers. Dolan led a successful fight against Mayor Michael Bloomberg to block the development of a stadium and convention center in midtown Manhattan. The company felt that the stadium, a key component of the city's failed Olympic bid, would have competed with Madison Square Garden.
More recently, James Dolan has been feuding with his father, cable industry pioneer Charles Dolan, over the direction of the company.
James Dolan sided with board members in opposing a satellite TV venture, called Voom, that was championed by his father, who is chairman of the company. The business eventually closed down.
The Dolans in June announced a bid to buy back the shares of the company they did not already own and spin off lucrative cable channels AMC, IFC and WE into a new, public company called Rainbow Media Holdings. Rainbow would include several regional sports networks, Madison Square Garden and the Knicks and Rangers, who play there. Cablevision's board is still considering the bid.
The family owns about 20 percent of all of Cablevision but controls about 71 percent of the vote through a special class of shares.
