(It later bought back the Dayton paper to avoid a dumb consequence of FCC regulations, which I wrote about at the time.) Over time, newspapers became less and less important to the company.įebruary 11, 2020Then in 2019, it sold off control of almost everything media-related remaining to the hedge fund Apollo Global Management, keeping only the AJC. But it entered the radio business in 1935, then TV in 1948, then cable in 1962. Its empire grew first on newspapers - the big dailies in Atlanta, Dayton, Austin, and Palm Beach were the most important, but it owned dozens of dailies and weeklies, mostly across the South and West. The Cox family seemed to fit into this category. In the 1990s and 2000s, many more followed, and the ones who didn’t sell tried to make sure newspapers were only one smallish part of a diverse portfolio. From the 1970s onward, many were happy to sell off their papers to Gannett or whichever other growing chain came to town with a checkbook. Most newspaper families spent the 20th century diversifying their businesses - often into radio, then into TV, and then into cable systems. Strong family owners who have held on to their newspapers generation after generation are wonderful. Cox, was the Democratic nominee for president in 1920, a race he lost by an astonishingly large margin.) When she died in 2020, Anne Cox Chambers was one of the richest women in the United States. ( Forbes estimates the company is worth about $34 billion. It has produced enormous wealth for the relatively small number of heirs to its fortune. And while I believe the company’s leaders when they say they see years of growth ahead, a number of Axios’ early investors are likely very happy to get a nice return as they plan for any downturn-related belt-tightening.Ĭox is still a family-controlled company after nearly 125 years of existence. After all, Axios was playing footsie with Axel Springer last year until the German giant decided to buy Politico instead. The sale isn’t particularly surprising to me. Congrats are in order: Today, Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises announced it was spending $525 million to buy Axios, the newsletter-driven news outfit that made “ Be smart:” a thing.
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