A company statement said Rogers had battled congestive heart failure in recent years and was surrounded by family when he died.

Rogers studied law at the University of Toronto and went on to found his company in 1960 with the establishment of radio station CHFI-FM.

By all corporate and media accounts, the frail Rogers was known as a micromanager with a quick temper. He grew his business to a multibillion-dollar communications empire encompassing Rogers cable TV, Internet, wireless, magazine publishing and ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays, whose home SkyDome field was renamed the Rogers Center.

His father, also known as Ted, is renowned for his invention in 1925 of a radio that ran without batteries. Two years later, he founded radio station CFRB, which stands for Canada's First Rogers Batteryless.

The younger Rogers is survived by his wife and four children.

The company said funeral arrangements were pending and a committee had been formed to search for his replacement as CEO.