Editing Charlie Ergen (section)

== EchoStar ==
{{main | EchoStar}}
In 1980 Ergen, his future wife Candy, and Jim DeFranco started a new business called EchoSphere Corporation, investing $60,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westword.com/news/meet-colorados-ten-billionaires-8895174|title=Meet Colorado's Ten Billionaires|first=Michael|last=Roberts|date=21 March 2017|website=westword.com|access-date=19 September 2018}}</ref> to purchase two [[C band (IEEE)|C-Band]] [[Television antenna|antenna]]s, targeting rural [[Colorado]]. They drove around the [[Denver]] metro area on a small budget, selling [[satellite dish]]es from the back of their truck.<ref name="Echostar">{{cite press release |title=Chairman and chief executive officer, EchoStar Communications Corporation |url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/A-E/Ergen-Charlie-1953.html/}}</ref>

In 1990 Ergen elevated EchoStar's profile by raising $335 million in [[junk bonds]] and purchasing [[Geostationary orbit|orbital slots]] for [[satellite]]s. Two years later, EchoStar got a [[Direct-broadcast satellite|DBS]] license from the [[Federal Communications Commission]], giving the company its own [[geostationary orbit]]al slot. In 1993, EchoStar Communications was incorporated. Under Ergen, EchoStar's net income doubled to $20.4 million, in 1993.<ref name="Echostar"/>