RIP: Former NY Islanders owner, Charles Wang

CHARLES WANG

ASAM NEWS

PHILANTHROPIST and former owner of the New York Islanders has died of lung cancer at the age of 74, reports Newsday.

Charles Wang founded CA Technologies, which at one time, was the third biggest software company in the world. He donated $52 million for a cultural center at Stony Brook University to highlight the links between Asian and American culture. In 2000, he purchased the Islanders and served as its majority owner until 2016. He remained as a minority owner and is remembered for his efforts to keep the Islanders on Long Island.

According to the LighthouseHockey.com, Wang;s family moved to Brooklyn when he was 8. While a passionate sports owner, some criticized his tight-fisted policies and blame him for stifling the success of his team. Lighthouse Hockey also reports his business was not without controversy. His former business partner Sanjay Kumar was convicted of fraud in 2006 for crimes he said started at the top.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Wang’s “commitment to, and passion for, his beloved Islanders was matched by his dedication to, and support for, the Long Island community.”

“Charles Wang was kind, funny, generous, loyal. He loved Long Island, and boy did he love his #Isles,” tweeted Chris Botta, former vice president of communications for the Islanders. “A big part of his enormous legacy in business and philanthropy is that the Islanders are still in New York.”

Wang, who was born in Shanghai and left China for the US when he was eight, is survived by his wife, three children, three grandchildren, his mother and two brothers.