He is a member of the Cable TV Hall of Fame, awarded with Inc.s Entrepreneur of the Year and a former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

[2] His great uncle was Nathan Nathanson, the founder of Famous Players, a Canadian-based film exhibitor and cable television service provider.

From 1988 to 1999 he also served as chief executive officer and president of Enstar Communications Corp, and as chairman of the board for each of the companies.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the company was formed with other co-owners, including the Mutual Life Insurance of New York, following a $50 million deal for 18 cable systems in seven states that were owned jointly by Warner Communications and American Express.

[8] In 1998 Tele-Communications Inc. took a 47 percent stake in Falcon, and the following year the company was sold to Paul Allen's Charter Communications for $3.7 (initial reports pegged the price closer to $3.6 billion).

[10] According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the deal made "Charter the fourth-largest cable TV operator in the country, with 5.5 million customers.

[15] President Bill Clinton appointed Nathanson to a three-year term on the board of governors of international broadcasting of the United States Information Agency in 1998.

In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Nathanson as her representative to the board of the East–West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He is also the vice-chair of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and was founding chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council for Los Angeles.

[28] The Jane and Marc Nathanson Family Foundation invests charitably and sponsors scientific studies into environmental problems like water shortages and usage efficiency.

[30] At UCLA an endowment produced their namesake Jane and Marc Nathanson Family Professor in Psychiatry chair.

The works include Andy Warhol's Two Marilyns silkscreen, James Rosenquist's Portrait of the Scull Family, George Segal's Laundromat, Gilbert and George's Falling, Frank Stella's La Columba Ladra, Julian Schnabel's Fox Farm Painting X, Roy Lichtenstein's Interior with Three Hanging Lamps, Damien Hirst's And Death Will Have His Day and 10 gelatin silver prints.

Adam is married to Lauren Waisbren in 2010 and is the founder of radio station owner and operator Mapleton Communications.