Parry-Okeden owns almost one-quarter of Cox Enterprises, a telecommunications and automotive services conglomerate. The Atlanta-based company controls the third-biggest cable operator in the US, which serves about 6 million homes and businesses. The closely held group had revenue of $20.9 billion in 2021.
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Parry-Okeden is a granddaughter of James Cox, who founded Cox Enterprises. She owns almost 25% of the company; her brother, James Kennedy, owns an equivalent share. They inherited their stake from their mother, Barbara Cox Anthony. Ownership is based on court documents and Cox's disclosure to Bloomberg that internal transactions resulted in equal stakes among the two owner families.
Cox Enterprises had revenue of $20.9 billion in 2021, according to information provided by the company. It has two main units: Cox Communications and Cox Automotive.
Cox Communications is the third-largest cable operator in the US, according to the company's website. It had revenue of $13.1 billion in 2021 and is valued using the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiple of three publicly traded peer companies: Comcast, Verizon, and Rogers Communications.
Cox Automotive is a provider of car sales software technology. It had revenue of $7.6 billion in 2021 and is valued on the average enterprise value-to-Ebitda multiples of KAR Auction Services, CarMax and Penske Automotive.
Parry-Okeden's 25% share of corporate-level debt is included as a liability.
Natalie Giurato, a Cox group spokesperson, provided revenue figures without further comment.
Blair Parry-Okeden is the granddaughter of James M. Cox, who founded Cox Enterprises after buying the Dayton Evening News in 1898. Cox became a politician, serving first as an Ohio state representative, then as governor. In 1920, he ran for the U.S. presidency as a Democrat, losing to fellow newspaper publisher Warren G. Harding.
Following his death in 1957, Cox's two daughters, Anne Cox Chambers and Parry-Okeden's mother, Barbara Cox Anthony, took control of Cox Enterprises, which had diversified into television and radio. Chambers became the chairwoman of the company's Atlanta Newspapers division, which owned the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Anthony was chairwoman of the Dayton Newspapers division.
Parry-Okeden's brother, James Kennedy, began working at Cox Enterprises two years after graduating from the University of Denver in 1970. He started out as a newspaper production assistant and worked his way up to general manager. In 1985, he was made vice president of Cox Newspapers. He was appointed chairman and CEO three years later. Today, Cox Enterprises operates newspapers as well as one of the largest cable systems in the U.S. and automotive services brands.
In 1977, Parry-Okeden married Australian Simon Parry-Okeden, with whom she has two sons. The couple has since divorced. Parry-Okeden still resides in Australia, tending to the land holdings her late mother began to acquire in the 1970s.