How To Lose Nearly $20 Billion: Inside The Fall Of Charles Ergen & His Attempt To Battle Back

Forbes

Once America’s 24th richest person, the former poker player is making a bold bid to revive his empire—and fortune.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicahunter-hart/2023/12/20/how-to-lose-20-billion-inside-the-fall-of-dish-networks-charles-ergen-and-his-latest-attempt-to-fight-back/?sh=4b5bb6222358  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  The Daily Briefing is edited, produced and hosted by Kieran Meadows.   https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Today on Forbes, how to lose nearly $20 billion,

00:04 inside the fall of Dish Network's Charles Ergin

00:07 and his latest attempt to battle back.

00:10 In early 2015, Charles Ergin was the richest person

00:15 in Colorado and the 24th richest in the United States.

00:18 Some 14 million households got their TV

00:21 from his Dish Network, which had recently hit

00:23 an all-time high market capitalization

00:25 of nearly $37 billion.

00:28 His second business, EchoStar,

00:30 was profiting off Dish's success,

00:32 providing most of the satellite technology

00:34 for its broadcasts.

00:36 Ergin, who owned sizable chunks

00:38 of both publicly traded companies,

00:40 had a fortune of $20.1 billion.

00:42 Then came the streaming wars.

00:46 As customers flocked to on-demand,

00:48 internet-based options like Netflix and Hulu,

00:51 Dish TV's subscriber base has fallen to 6.7 million,

00:55 down from a peak of 14.1 million in 2010.

00:59 Dish has lost 900,000 customers in the past year alone.

01:03 Shareholders have jumped ship,

01:05 pushing the stock from $70 per share nine years ago

01:08 to just under $5 now, including a 65% freefall in 2023.

01:13 Meanwhile, EchoStar brought in $1.8 billion in revenue

01:18 over the 12 months through September,

01:20 almost half the $3.4 billion it generated nine years ago.

01:25 Not surprisingly, Ergin's net worth,

01:27 which remains largely tied up in the two businesses,

01:30 has cratered, falling a stunning 94% since 2015,

01:34 despite the S&P 500 gaining 125% in value

01:38 over the same period.

01:40 His fortune slipped below $800 million in November,

01:43 when he briefly fell from the billionaire ranks

01:45 for the first time since 1998.

01:47 Now, Ergin, a former professional poker player,

01:52 is betting he can reverse his fortunes

01:53 with a full business overhaul,

01:55 merging EchoStar and Dish

01:57 and transforming the business from pay TV

02:00 into a 5G wireless network operator.

02:03 His gamble rests on a groundbreaking,

02:04 but little-tested technology,

02:06 and a deal that will bring in much-needed cash

02:08 to triage Dish's loan-littered balance sheet,

02:11 which totals $21 billion in debt,

02:14 $3 billion of it due this year.

02:16 Roy Chua, founder and principal at Avidthink,

02:20 a research and analysis firm

02:22 focused on infrastructure technologies, says,

02:24 quote, "He needed to make bold moves."

02:27 Announced in August,

02:30 the FCC approved the merger on December 6th,

02:32 sending the stock soaring 31% from its $3.32 low,

02:37 and helped push Ergin back to the billionaire ranks.

02:39 He's currently worth $1.3 billion.

02:41 The transaction was expected to close

02:44 by the end of last month.

02:46 Investors are encouraged that Dish

02:47 will now be able to pay off

02:49 at least the first of its massive debts this year,

02:51 though analysts remain skeptical

02:53 about the business's long-term health,

02:55 especially because debts could keep mounting,

02:57 and the business needs to raise billions more in capital.

03:00 It's not the first time Ergin has faced tough odds,

03:02 or come up with a long-shot plan to claw his way out.

03:06 Around 2008, 2009, Dish's star rose,

03:09 and as it did, Ergin also made some enemies,

03:12 earning himself the title of, quote,

03:14 "the most hated man in Hollywood"

03:16 by The Hollywood Reporter,

03:17 and Dish as the, quote,

03:18 "worst company to work for"

03:20 multiple times by 24/7 Wall Street in the early 2010s.

03:24 Dish spokesperson Ted Wyteka says that Ergin made enemies

03:28 because he introduced ad-skipping technology at the time

03:31 that angered broadcasters.

03:33 Wyteka says, quote,

03:34 "Of course Hollywood hated Charlie.

03:36 "That fight is just another example

03:38 "of Dish innovating on behalf of consumers."

03:40 For full coverage, check out Monica Hunter Hart's piece

03:45 on Forbes.com.

03:47 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

03:49 Thanks for tuning in.

03:51 (gentle music)

03:53 (clock ticking)

03:56 (upbeat music)

03:59 (upbeat music)

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