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Charles Ergen
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Charlie Ergen, formally known as Charles Ergen, is the CEO of dish network. Charles Ergen is ... the CEO of Echostar Communications. Charlie Ergen got together with Jim Defranco and formed Echostar in 1980. Jim Defranco, formally known as James Defranco is also the Executive Vice President of Dish Network. Charlie Ergen has a reputation of being a powerful and clever businessman and was also a professional gambler at one time.
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Charles Ergen started DISH Network Corporation (formerly EchoStar Communications Corporation) in 1980, which sold C-band satellite TV dishes to rural homes in Colorado. Under his vision and leadership, DISH Network was launched in 1996, which has become the fastest growing direct-to-home satellite television company in the United States. In 2001, Ergen was the first person to ever win the Rocky Mountain News' Business Person of the Year for a second time, being recognized for the same award in 1996. Ergen was named to the Forbes Magazine Top Ten CEO's list and as the Frost & Sullivan 2001 CEO of the Year for Satellite Industry. In 2000, Aviation Week Magazine named him Space Industry Business Man of the Year. In June 1991, INC. Magazine named him Master Entrepreneur of the Year for the Rocky Mountain region.
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Charles Ergen, EchoStar’s chairman and chief executive, became the latest industry executive to announce a family-friendly tier. Ergen said it would launch the new tier Feb. 1 with 40 channels for $19.99. Customers could purchase local broadcast channels for another $5.
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Charles Ergen was born in 1953 in Oak Ridge Tennessee and became the co-founder of Echostar and later dish network. Charlie Ergen was once a financial analyst working for a company called Frito Lay. He now owns his own exciting and interactive TV show of sorts called Charlie Chat. Charlie Ergen owns around 51% of the company stock and 85% of the voting rights in his company.
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Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Ergen's father William Ergen was a nuclear physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and his mother Viola Ergen is the retired business manager of the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. After graduating from Oak Ridge High School in 1971, he graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (BA) and Wake Forest University (MBA). He worked as a financial analyst for Frito Lay and as a professional blackjack player until he was kicked out of a casino for card counting.
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A further complication: News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, who has agreed to pay about $US6.6 billion to take control of Hughes, is a longtime nemesis of Ergen. The two strong-willed adversaries are preparing for a new round of competition in trying to expand their satellite-broadcasting networks, and one of their biggest challenges is how to lock up additional capacity to broadcast high-definition channels and other premium services. News Corp is expected to win federal approval for its Hughes takeover by the end of the year.
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Charles Ergen