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First Cable Franchise
John Rigas purchased his first cable company which provided cable to the small town of Coudersport, Pennsylvania for only $300 at age 27.
Rigas also invested purchased the local Coudersport theater, which was said to take up most of his time until the Adelphia Cable company got offically started. -
Getting Started
Later, in the same year, Rigas rallied a group of local businessmen, including his brother Gus Rigas, and began to build the caple system in Coudersport, Pennsylvania.
To learn more about the history of cable companies in the United States check out this link! -
Incorporating Adelphia
20 years after establishing a cable system for the town of Couderstport John Rigas began to expand his service to other towns in western Pennsylvania and western New York, including his hometown of Wellsville, NY.
Their new sucess in the cable business, John and Gus Rigas decided to incorporated their company under the name Adelphia, the Greek word for "brothers" in honor of their Greek heritage. -
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A Family Business
By this year the brother of John Rigas, Gus Rigas had exited himself from the cable industry to pursue other interests, but along with the abandonment of Gus came the welcoming to John Rigas' three sons, Tim, Michael, and James. -
Adelphia Expands
Adelphia served approximately 45,000 subscribers. The company It had evolved from purely a video provider into an provider of digital cable, high speed data, paging, long distance telephone service, and PCS telephones. This expansion of product was insued by sudden acquisitions. -
Telecommunication Terms
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Reaching Two Million Subscribers
Adelphia reached a customer base of over two million subscribers while employing more 15,000 people. Their video division operating in 32 states, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Venezuela was widely praised and was ranked 7th on the top 50 of cable multiple system operators (“MSO’s”) -
Adelphia Scandal
John Rigas was forced to retire as CEO of Adelphia because of the idictment of securities, bank and wire fraud. He was charged with personal misuse of corporatefunds and the illegal hiding of $2.3 billion in liabilities from investors. John Rigas listed as one of the top ten crooks in history! -
Bankruptcy
Adelphia was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and admitting that the CEO and his two sons failed to record $3.1 billion in loans from Highland Holdings, a family owned account. He was sentenced to 15 years in prision. To learn more about the bankruptcy, click here!
