Tom Golisano | |
---|---|
Born | Blase Thomas Golisano November 14, 1941 Rochester, New York, U.S |
Education | Alfred State College (AAS) |
Political party | Independence (1991–2005) Republican (2005–present) |
Spouse | Monica Seles |
Children | 2 |
Website | Golisano Foundation |
Blase Thomas Golisano (born November 14, 1941) [1] is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
He is the founder of Paychex, which offers payroll and human resources services to businesses. Golisano owned Greenlight Networks, a fiber internet provider based in Rochester, New York, from 2019 to 2022. He owned the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League from 2003 to 2011. Golisano unsuccessfully ran for Governor of New York as a third-party candidate in 1994, 1998, and 2002. As of 2020, Golisano had a net worth of US$5.2 billion.
Paychex was founded by Golisano in 1971. He started the company with $3,000 and a credit card. [2] Golisano served as its president and Chief Executive Officer from 1971 to October 2004. He has been the Chairman of Paychex since October 1, 2004, and its Director since 1979. [3]
In April 2018, it was announced that Golisano was purchasing Greenlight Networks, a Rochester-based fiber internet provider and local competitor to Frontier Communications and Charter Spectrum that was established in 2012. [4] Following Golisano's purchase of Greenlight, the company began expanding into new areas due to a $100 million investment by Golisano. [5] However in 2022, Golisano sold his controlling equity shares of Greenlight Networks to the investment firm Oak Hill. [6]
The 2020 Forbes 400 list stated that Golisano was the 238th wealthiest person in America with a net worth of $3.4 billion as of September 2020. [7] The 2022 list of The World's Billionaires by Forbes ranked Golisano as the 490th wealthy billionaire with a net worth of $5.4 billion. [8] In 2023, he was ranked as the 552nd wealthiest billionaire in the world with a net worth of $4.9 billion. [9]
Golisano is a former co-owner (along with real estate developer Larry Quinn) of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team and of the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. [10] He 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. [11] He sold the Sabres and its assets to billionaire Terrence Pegula in February 2011. [12] Golisano made a bid for the bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in early 2012, [13] but his group was eventually outbid by a consortium led by Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners. In order to help keep the team in western NY, he also made a bid for the Buffalo Bills when that franchise came up for sale in 2014; [14] that team was also ultimately purchased by Pegula. [15]
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. Although he was never elected, his percentage of the vote increased with each election. He spent a combined $93 million on the three campaigns. [16] By receiving more than 50,000 votes each time, Golisano brought the Independence Party an automatic ballot line for the succeeding four years. After New York's Republican governor, George Pataki announced he would not run again in the 2006 election, Republican officials attempted to recruit Golisano to run for the Republican nomination. He 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, Golisano announced that he would not run for the governorship. [17]
In August 2008, Golisano contributed $1 million to the Democratic National Convention. [18]
In July 2008, Golisano formed a PAC called Responsible New York and funded it with $5 million of his own money. The PAC gives money to candidates for the New York state legislature, regardless of party, and supports candidates for property tax cuts and election reform. [18]
In October 2008, Golisano voiced his opinion in favor of term limits for public offices in New York City. Golisano vowed to fight Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to extend term limits, arguing that the people of New York City have voted twice in favor of the current law. [19] There was speculation that he would run for governor again on the Republican ticket, but it was announced, on May 15, 2009, that he was moving to Florida to escape New York's high taxes. [20]
In June 2009, 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. 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. He orchestrated the defection of Democratic senators Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate, who voted with Republicans to reinstate Dean Skelos as majority leader. [21] The attempted coup failed when Espada and Monserrate returned to the Senate Democratic Conference. [22] [23]
In February 2011, Golisano became the spokesman for National Popular Vote Inc., a non-profit organization seeking to implement a popular vote system for presidential elections by harnessing the electoral college. [24]
In January 2018, Golisano announced the formation of a campaign called Tax My Property Fairly. The stated purpose of the campaign is "to help Upstate New York homeowners fight for fair property taxes." [25]
As of Jan. 2021, Golisano has pledged or donated more than $300 million to a variety of philanthropic causes. [26]
Golisano founded the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation in 1985 with an initial gift of $90,000. The Foundation awards grants to organizations dedicated to providing opportunities for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. [27]
In October 2008, Golisano donated $10 million to Niagara University for a new B. Thomas Golisano Center for Integrated Sciences building. [28]
In November 2009, Golisano donated $4 million to Ave Maria University for the construction of a new field house. [29]
In 2012, Golisano donated $12 million to the Special Olympics to launch the Healthy Communities initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to increase year-round access to health care for people with intellectual disabilities. He made an additional commitment of $25 million to Special Olympics in 2015 to expand Healthy Communities to 100 locations around the world. This was the largest single gift to an organization made by Golisano and the largest single gifts ever received from an individual by Special Olympics. [30] Also in 2012, Golisano donated $20 million to build a new Golisano Children's Hospital at Lee Health in southwest Florida which opened in Spring 2017. [31]
In 2014, the Golisano Neurology and Rehabilitation Center opened at Unity Hospital in Rochester, funded in part by a $10 million contribution from Golisano. [32]
Golisano and the Golisano Foundation were recognized among 30 givers and causes on Forbes' "Philanthropy's Big Bets for Social Change of 2015." [33]
In June 2016, the Golisano Center for Community Health opened its doors to patients. The center, which provides integrated health care to people with disabilities and their families, was made possible with a gift of $3.5 million from Golisano. [34] In September 2016, Golisano gave $7.5 million to Nazareth University 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. [35] Also in September 2016, Golisano gave $2 million to the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council for equipment. This was his second gift to WXXI; he gave $2 million in 2004 to allow WXXI to upgrade to digital broadcasting equipment. [36]
In April 2017, the City of Rochester announced modified Rochester Broadway Theatre League proposal for Midtown Plaza which in partnership with Morgan Development would include a performing arts center to be called the Golisano Center for the Performing Arts in honor of a donation made to the project by Golisano. [37] Also in 2017, at the Special Olympics World Games, the first Golisano Global Health Care Leadership Awards were presented to recognize those who are advancing inclusive health for people with intellectual disabilities. [38]
Golisano donated $14 million to the University of Rochester, which renamed their pediatric facility at Strong Memorial Hospital the Golisano Children's Hospital in 2002. In 2012, Golisano pledged an additional $20 million to URMC to build a new Golisano Children's Hospital, which opened in 2015. [39] [40]
In April 2017, Golisano and the Golisano Foundation pledged $3 million to construct a facility dedicated to providing services to families of autistic children and adults in the city of Rochester. [41] The Golisano Autism Center, which opened in September 2019 in a new 33,000 sq. ft. building, is unique in how it integrated numerous recreational, medical and educational support providers and services into one location. [42]
Golisano founded the Golisano Institute for Business and Entrepreneurship in Brighton, NY, that will open in the fall 2023. The school will offer two-year certificates, focus exclusively on business coursework, and cap enrollment at 500 students. [43] Golisano has said the school is oriented to "reducing the time and cost of business-related education." [44] The business institute is housed in a former Paychex building that Golisano bought for $10 million in October 2022. A WXXI News report stated the school is a "nonprofit venture" and reported that Golisano is "bankrolling the institution, but he is not running it." [45] Tuition is expected to be $8,900 per year when it opens, and the Thomas Golisano Foundation is covering the school's operating costs. [46]
Golisano hired Ian Mortimer, who was previously the associate provost at the Rochester Institute of Technology, as the school's first president. [46]
In February 2020, Golisano released Built, Not Born: A Self-Made Billionaire's No-Nonsense Guide for Entrepreneurs, co-authored by Mike Wicks. The book, published by HarperCollins, contains business advice drawn from Golisano's fifty years of experience. [47] The book reached #1 on Barnes & Noble's bestselling business book charts. [48]
Three times divorced, Golisano is married to former tennis player Monica Seles. [49] [50]
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who served as the 53rd Governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. He previously served in the State Legislature from 1985 to 1994, and as the Mayor of Peekskill from 1981 to 1984. Pataki was the third Republican since 1923 to win New York's governorship, after Thomas E. Dewey and Nelson Rockefeller.
Paychex, Inc., headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of human resources, payroll, and employee benefits outsourcing services for small- to medium-sized businesses. The company has more than 100 offices serving approximately 740,000 payroll clients in the U.S. and Europe. Paychex is ranked 681st on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations by revenue.
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Mary O'Connor Donohue is an American retired educator, attorney, politician and Judge of the New York Court of Claims, who served as the lieutenant governor of New York from 1999 to 2006. Donohue was first elected lieutenant governor in 1998, and was re-elected in 2002.
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Strong Memorial Hospital (SMH) is an 886-bed medical facility, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center complex, in Rochester, New York, United States. Opened in 1926, it is a major provider of both in-patient and out-patient medical services. Attached to Strong is the 190-bed Golisano Children's Hospital, which serves infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21.
Kenneth Gerard Langone Sr. KSG is an American billionaire businessman best known for organizing financing for the founders of The Home Depot. He is a major donor to the Republican Party.
The B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences is one of the largest colleges at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and is home to the institute's computing education and research facilities. Golisano College is home to RIT's computer science, computing security, information sciences and technologies, and software engineering departments, and to the Ph.D. program in computing and information sciences, and the School of Interactive Games & Media. Golisano College is housed in a 125,000 square foot facility, opened in 2003 on RIT's campus in Rochester, New York.
The 2002 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002. Republican Governor George Pataki was re-elected to a third term, defeating Democrat Carl McCall and Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano, who ran on the Independence Party line. As of 2024, this was the last time a Republican won a statewide election in New York, and the last time Albany, Tompkins and Westchester counties have voted Republican in a statewide election.
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Nazareth University is a private university in Pittsford, New York. It offers over 60 undergraduate majors and more than two dozen graduate programs. The college was previously Nazareth College of Rochester, or Nazareth College.
Midtown Plaza is a city district in downtown Rochester, New York. The site was originally occupied by an indoor shopping mall designed by Victor Gruen and opened in 1962. Although it was primarily promoted as a retail space, Gruen's vision was for the plaza to function as an all-purpose community space to revitalize the downtown area. The original mall was closed in 2008 after a decline in retail activity and partially demolished. Since 2010 the site has been redeveloped with new buildings and an open lot known as Parcel 5.
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Greenlight Networks is a fiber-optic Internet service provider in Rochester, New York, and the Buffalo Niagara Region. The company was founded in 2011 and competes with Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Verizon Fios and Charter Spectrum.
University of Rochester-Golisano Children's Hospital (GCH) formerly Children's Hospital at Strong, is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital in Rochester, New York. It is affiliated with the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The hospital features all private rooms that consist of 168 pediatric beds. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout the region. The hospital also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. The hospital shares the rooftop helipad for the attached Strong Memorial Hospital and is an ACS verified level I pediatric trauma center, one of the only ones in the region. The hospital features a regional pediatric intensive-care unit and an American Academy of Pediatrics verified level IV neonatal intensive care unit. GCH also offers one of the country's few Ronald McDonald Houses that is located within a hospital.
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