McCaw's father was in the business of buying and selling TV and radio stations, which brought in wealth but also incurred significant debts.

While at Stanford, Craig joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (DKE), and in his senior year, he took the helm of the cable company and set out to rebuild his family name.

After acquiring MCI's cellular wing in 1986, the McCaw brothers sold the cable company to Cooke Cablevision (now part of Comcast).

Within four years Nextel grew significantly to become a challenging wireless competitor, servicing 3.6 million customers throughout the U.S. and ten of the largest international markets.

[4][5] Later that same year, McCaw founded NEXTLINK Communications, planning to enter the broadband and internet service provider market.

The company's U.S. broadband network is deployed in markets ranging from major metropolitan areas to small, rural communities.

McCaw, who served as Chairman of Clearwire until December 31, 2010, once said to an interviewer, "Filling a need that others aren't addressing has always been a focus of the companies that I have been involved with.

[9] With the closing, Sprint contributed all of its 2.5 GHz spectrum and its WiMAX-related assets, including its XOHM business, to Clearwire.

In addition, Clearwire received a $3.2 billion cash investment from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, Google and Bright House Networks.

[15] McCaw was a founding donor and underwriter of the Free Willy Foundation (along with Warner Brothers Studios) from 1993 to 2002, with an original $2 million donation.

[16] The foundation was formed to release the orca Keiko, star of the 1993 film Free Willy, back into the wild.

He is president of the Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation, which supports a variety of educational, environmental, and international economic development projects.

McCaw has also served on the boards of Conservation International, the Grameen Technology Center, the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, and the Academy of Achievement.