Barbara Blair Cox Anthony (December 8, 1922 – May 28, 2007) was the youngest daughter of

James M. Cox James Middleton Cox (March 31, 1870 July 15, 1957) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, and a two-term U.S. Representative from Ohio. As the Democratic nominee for President of the United S ...

, a Democratic

governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, newspaper publisher and broadcaster. With her sister

Anne Cox Chambers Anne Beau Cox Chambers (December 1, 1919 – January 31, 2020) was an American media proprietor, diplomat, and philanthropist who served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Belgium, United States Ambassador to Belgium from 1977 to 198 ...

and her brother James M. Cox, Jr., she inherited, via a trust, ownership and control of her father's company, now called

Cox Enterprises Cox Enterprises, Inc. is a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employees and $21 billion in total revenue. Its major operating subsidiaries are Cox Communications and Co ...

. Upon her brother's death in 1974, the sisters received his share of the company equally. Her net worth was estimated at $12 billion, based principally on her equity interest in Cox Enterprises, which made her one of the richest women in the United States and the richest resident of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. She served as a Director of Cox Enterprises, one of the largest diversified media companies in the United States. It owns one of the nation's largest

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

businesses, which provides internet and telephone, publishes newspapers including the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' and ''

The Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'', owns and operates broadcast television and radio stations and owns Manheim, an automobile auction firm. It also owns stakes in a variety of internet businesses, including AutoTrader.com, the largest retail automotive shopping site in the world. Her son James C. Kennedy is chairman of Cox Enterprises. Well known in

for her support of philanthropic causes, Anthony helped found La Pietra: Hawaii School for Girls and served as its chair from 1978 until her death in Honolulu in 2007, aged 85, following an extended illness. She also made contributions to the Veterinary School of

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, endowing two chairs in equine health.

Personal life

Anthony was married four times. She did not have children with her first husband, Bradford Ripley, a naval aviator who died in World War II. She had two children with her second husband, airline executive Stanley C. Kennedy, Jr.: James C. Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises, and

Blair Parry-Okeden Blair Parry-Okeden (born 1950) is an American-born Australian billionaire heiress and philanthropist. According to ''Forbes Asia'', she was Australia's richest person by net worth in 2016. Parry-Okeden's wealth derives from Cox Enterprises ...

, Australia's richest woman.Sydney Morning Herald: "Gina loses crown as Australia's richest person to little-known heiress"
January 26, 2016 They later divorced. Her third husband was James W. Glover, a successful contractor; he died a few years after their marriage. Her fourth husband was Garner Anthony, Jr., who preceded his stepson James Kennedy as chairman of Cox Enterprises, serving in that position from 1974 to 1987. As Mrs. Bradford Williams Ripley II, she was the ship's sponsor for the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVB 41) and christened the ship at its launch at Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia, on March 20, 1945.

References

External links

NY Times obit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Barbara Cox 1922 births 2007 deaths American billionaires American mass media owners Cox family Businesspeople from Honolulu Female billionaires 20th-century American businesspeople

Personal life

See also

References

External links