Barbara Blair Cox Anthony (December 8, 1922 – May 28, 2007) was the youngest daughter of James M. Cox, a Democratic

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

, newspaper publisher and broadcaster. With her sister Anne Cox Chambers 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 an American private company, privately held global conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employees and $21 billion in total revenue. Its major ope ...

. 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 ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. 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 bro ...

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

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' 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' ...

'', 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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, 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, 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