James Cox Kennedy (born November 29, 1947) is an American media executive and the current chair of

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 ...

, the conglomerate founded by his grandfather,

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 ...

. According to the 2017 Forbes billionaires list, he is the 105th-richest person in the world, the 37th-richest person in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and the richest person in the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Personal life and education

Born on November 29, 1947 in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, in the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

, Kennedy is the son of

Barbara Cox Anthony Barbara Blair Cox Anthony (December 8, 1922 – May 28, 2007) was the youngest daughter of James M. Cox, a Democratic governor of Ohio, newspaper publisher and broadcaster. With her sister Anne Cox Chambers and her brother James M. Cox, Jr., she ...

and airline executive Stanley C. Kennedy Jr. His maternal grandfather was

, the 46th and 48th

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 A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

publisher and broadcaster. In 2007, Kennedy inherited a 25% stake in Cox Enterprises after his mother died. Kennedy now serves as chairman of

. His sister is

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 second-richest woman. Kennedy received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

in 1970. In 2003, he received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

humane letters Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the tim ...

from

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fou ...

,James C. Kennedy
/ref> located in Kennesaw, Georgia. In 2018, he was granted an honorary doctorate from Colorado State University. Kennedy lives in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

with his wife, Sarah. They have three grown children—a daughter and two sons—and three grandchildren.

Career

Kennedy began his career with Cox Enterprises in 1972, working in a variety of media roles. He began his career with

Cox Newspapers CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...

where he held several positions in the newspaper industry, including production assistant, reporter, copy editor, advertising salesman, business manager, and executive vice president/general manager in Atlanta. He was named president of Grand Junction Newspapers, Inc. in 1979 and was quickly named publisher of the

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel The ''Grand Junction Daily Sentinel'' is the largest daily newspaper in western Colorado, with distribution in six counties. History I.N. Bunting of Pennsylvania and Howard T. Lee founded the newspaper in 1893. In 1911, future U.S. Senator Walt ...

, where he worked the back shop as well as on the newsroom floor. He was known as the "New Kid." Soon after, Kennedy returned to Atlanta where in 1986, he was named executive vice president of Cox Enterprises. He was inducted into the Technology Association of Georgia's Technology Hall of Fame in 2016. A 2015

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

magazine profile on Kennedy was titled "This Billionaire Knows The Secret To Saving A Family Business".

Educational and community outreach

Recognized for his contributions to the community, Kennedy and his wife, Sarah, were awarded the Philanthropists of the Year by the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the Association for Fund-raising Professionals in 2003. In 2004, he was inducted into Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business Hall of Fame. He established the Jim Kennedy Scholarship Fund to support children of Cox employees. The Fund annually awards ten scholarships valued at up to $40,000 each. Kennedy has also remained closely connected to his alma mater, the

. He has contributed to the university by serving as a member of DU's Board of Trustees. In 2008, Kennedy gave the

a ten-million-dollar gift to create the James C. Kennedy Institute for Educational Success in the Morgridge College of Education. The purpose of this institute is to identify innovative and cost-effective means for promoting and sustaining the educational success of vulnerable children. As a nature enthusiast, Kennedy once served as Chairman of the Colorado Division of Wildlife Commission. He currently serves on the board of the PATH Foundation, previously served on the boards of Ducks Unlimited and Atlanta Committee for Progress, and is also a former president of Wetlands America Trust, Inc. In 2008, Kennedy also established the James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation in the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries of the College of Forest Resources at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

. Kennedy's gift sustains in perpetuity the teaching, research, and outreach program in waterfowl and wetlands ecology and conservation at MSU. In 2013, Tallahatchie General Hospital, with funding from Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises, announced plans to build a Wellness Center in Charleston, Mississippi. The Center opened in 2016 and the Mississippi House of Representatives passed a resolution in support of the facility. In 2014, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced a land exchange in Mississippi with Kennedy to conserve wildlife habitats and provide outdoor recreation for public access. He also gave $3.3 million to Clemson University to establish and endow the James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center, headquartered at the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Coastal Ecology and Forest Science in Georgetown and Nemours Wildlife Foundation in Beaufort. In 2016, he gave $3.1M to create a University Endowed Chair in Wetlands and Waterfowl Conservation at Colorado State University. Wetlands America Trust presented Kennedy with its 2014 National Blue-winged Teal Award for giving his time, talent and treasure for the conservation of natural resources. He was a featured speaker at Fortune's Brainstorm Green where he spoke on the importance of sustainability. He encouraged sustainability through the company's participation in the American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge. Kennedy was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014. He encouraged Cox employees to participate in Movember to raise awareness for men's health. The company raised nearly $2 million for the Movember Foundation. He is currently cancer free and encourages Cox employees to participate in health screenings for early detection. In 2015, he announced a $25 million grant to Emory from the James M. Cox Foundation that will support prostate cancer initiatives.

Right of way controversy

Kennedy was involved in a dispute where he tried to take away the rights of the public to access an 8-mile stretch of river that runs through land he owns on the Ruby River in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. The Montana Supreme Court ruled against Kennedy.

References

External links