Bergen Billionaire Makes Annual Forbes 400 List

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Bergen County man is still a member of one of the most exclusive clubs in the world: He is on Forbes' annual list of the world's billionaires.

Three people in New Jersey made this year's list. Rocco Commisso, with a net worth of about $5 billion, was ranked No. 131 on the list. He lives in Saddle River and made the list last year as well.

An Italian immigrant, Commisso came to the United States in 1962 when he was 12 and worked 40 hours a week to pay his way through Catholic high school, Forbes reported.

He earned a full scholarship to Columbia University where he earned a bachelor degree, and a Master in Business Administration.

Commisso is the founder and CEO of Mediacom, a cable company based in Chester, New York. Previously, he was CFO at Cablevision Industries.

Commissio has an appreciation for soccer. He learned how to play the sport in Italy on concrete using a ball made of underwear and old rags, Forbes reported. He has been a long-time contributor to Columbia University's soccer program and the university renamed its soccer stadium in his honor in 2013. According to Forbes, he was offered a tryout with the 1972 U.S. Olympic soccer team, but he did not make the squad.

Commissio also tried to purchase part of AC Milan, a famed soccer club in his home country.

According to Forbes, the minimum net worth to qualify for the list is $2.1 billion. The average wealth of those on the list increased by $200 million to $7.4 billion, Forbes writes.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com