Jim Kennedy Keeps the Cox Empire Going Strong After 118 Years
By Chris Taylor
Originally published on Reuters
Vast family fortunes may be rare, but here is something even rarer: Family fortunes that last.
Whether due to spoiled heirs or investment blunders, the money is usually gone within a generation or two.
Not so with Cox Enterprises, the media giant chaired by Jim Kennedy, grandson of founder and former Ohio governor James Cox.
Founded in 1898, the firm - with tentacles in TV and cable, radio, broadband and newspapers - ranks #16 among America's largest private companies, and Kennedy is the nation's 42nd richest person, according to Forbes magazine. (Fun fact: His sister, Blair Parry-Okeden, is one of the richest women in Australia.)
Kennedy, 68, sat down with Reuters for our series "Life Lessons," to chat about what he has learned from a lifetime in the family business.