ROME: American media mogul Rocco Commisso, the owner of Italian football club Fiorentina, has died aged 76, the team said on Saturday.
Commisso, who also formerly owned the New York Cosmos soccer club, was the founder of Mediacom Communications, one of the largest cable TV providers in the United States.
Born in Italy, he moved to the United States with his family as a child and went on to build a business empire, amassing a fortune estimated by Forbes at $5.9 billion.
“It is with great pain and sadness that the Commisso family announces the loss of (club) president Rocco B. Commisso,” Fiorentina said in a statement, adding that he had undergone “prolonged” medical treatment.
Commisso purchased Fiorentina in 2019 and took an active role in the club’s affairs, investing in a new 120-million-euro ($139-million) training centre and fighting to restore them to their 1950s and 1960s glory, when they won two Italian championships and two European trophies.
