Who Owns the Knicks? James Dolan and MSG Knickerbockers Corp.

The Knicks have never had an individual owner. Since the team was founded in 1946 it has always belonged to whichever company owned Madison Square Garden, and since 1997 that company has been controlled by the Dolans.

Who owns the Knicks today?

Source: Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. 2026 proxy statement, ownership as of October 15, 2026. "Share of all shares" is my calculation from the 19,589,501 Class A and 4,529,517 Class B shares outstanding that day.

Each Class B share has ten votes and each Class A share has one, and Class B holders elect nine of the twelve directors. That is why the family controls the Knicks with about a fifth of the equity. The Rangers spin-off did not change Knicks shareholdings: holders kept their shares and received one MSG Rangers share for every two they owned.

What changed in October 2026?

On February 18, 2026 the MSG Sports board approved a plan to explore splitting the Knicks and Rangers into two public companies, and said the move was not tied to selling either team. The split was completed on October 26, 2026, when the company distributed all MSG Rangers shares to its stockholders and renamed itself MSG Knickerbockers Corp., according to its October 27 SEC filing.

The Knicks company now holds the Knicks and the Westchester Knicks of the G League. MSG Rangers Corp. holds the Rangers and the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Dolan family controls both, and James Dolan stays executive chairman and CEO of the Knicks company. He has said he has no interest in selling either team, per Forbes in June 2026.

How did the Dolans get the Knicks?

Viacom sold Madison Square Garden, the Knicks, the Rangers and the MSG Network to a partnership of ITT and Cablevision for $1.075 billion in a deal agreed in August 1994 and completed in March 1995. Cablevision, run by the Dolan family, bought ITT's half for $650 million in 1997 and took full control. James Dolan became MSG chairman in 1999, when Forbes valued the Knicks at $334 million.

Cablevision spun the Garden and its teams off as a separate public company in 2010, so the Knicks stayed with the Dolans when Altice bought Cablevision in 2016.

How much are the Knicks worth?

Sources: Bleacher Report summarizing Sportico, October 9, 2026; NBC New York citing CNBC, February 12, 2026; Forbes via Wikipedia; Forbes via Forbes Australia, June 2026.

The Knicks won the 2026 NBA title, their first in 53 years, by beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games. Sportico's figure rose about 30% in a year after the title.

Every Knicks owner

1. 1946

   Ned Irish, president of Madison Square Garden, founds the Knicks for the Garden

   Not recordedSource: New York Knicks on Wikipedia

2. 1977

   Gulf and Western takes full control of the Madison Square Garden Corporation

   Not givenSource: MSG Sports on Wikipedia

3. 1989

   Gulf and Western renames itself Paramount Communications

   Source: MSG Sports on Wikipedia

4. 1994

   Viacom buys Paramount, then agrees to sell the Garden, Knicks and Rangers to ITT and Cablevision

   $1.075 billionSource: Viacom 8-K

5. 1997

   Cablevision buys ITT's half and the Dolan family takes full control

   $650 million for the halfSource: MSG Sports on Wikipedia; Forbes

6. 1999

   James Dolan becomes MSG chairman

   $334 million team valueSource: Forbes

7. 2010

   Cablevision spins off the Madison Square Garden Company

   Source: MSG Sports on Wikipedia

8. 2015

   The teams move into a new Madison Square Garden Company as the networks split off

   Source: MSG Sports on Wikipedia

9. 2020

   The entertainment business is spun off and the company becomes MSG Sports

   Source: MSG Sports on Wikipedia

10. 2026

    The Rangers are spun off and the company becomes MSG Knickerbockers Corp.

    $12.8 billion (Sportico, October)Source: SEC 8-K; Sportico

The Knicks have had four corporate parents: the original Garden company, Gulf and Western (later Paramount), the ITT and Cablevision partnership, and the Dolan-controlled Garden companies since 1997.

Does James Dolan own the Knicks?

He controls them but does not own them outright. James Dolan personally holds 23.2% of the voting power, and the wider Dolan Family Group holds 70.7%, as of October 15, 2026. Public shareholders own most of the equity. Forbes estimated the Dolan family fortune at $7 billion in June 2026, split among James Dolan and his five siblings' families.

How I checked this

The shareholdings come from the company's 2026 proxy statement and the completion of the Rangers split from its October 27, 2026 Form 8-K, both on SEC EDGAR. The 1994 price is from Viacom's 8-K, and the 1997 price from the Madison Square Garden Sports history on Wikipedia and Forbes. Team values are third-party estimates, and I note who made each one.

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