Retired Cox Communications CEO and cable industry leader, James O. Robbins died this week after a battle with cancer. He was 65.
“The passing of our dear friend and valued colleague is a sad event for me, my family and all the employees of Cox,” Jim Kennedy, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises said. “Jim embodied the spirit of our company—to do the right thing by the people the company touches—employees, customers, vendors, partners and the communities Cox serves.”
Robbins joined Cox in 1983 and was named president in 1985. He added the title of CEO in 1995, when Cox Communications went public. He is credited with taking Cox from a standalone cable TV provider and leading it into an entertainment, broadband and telecommunications company. He retired in 2005 and was elected to the board of directors of Cox Enterprises the following year.
Robbins was involved in the cable industry over four decades and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2006. Prior to Cox, he worked for Viacom Communications, Continental Cablevision of Ohio Inc. and Montachusett Cable Television. He also served two terms as chairman of the NCTA.
NCTA President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow said. “He served with distinction as one of the industry’s great ambassadors to policymakers at all levels of government. We will deeply miss his humor, compassion and guidance.”
Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. on Oct. 20 at Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, and at 11 a.m. on Oct. 27 at All Saints Episcopal Church, 634 W. Peachtree Road, Atlanta.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 400 Perimeter Center Terrace, Suite 750, Atlanta, GA 30346 or The Melanoma Research Foundation, 170 Township Line Road, Building B, Hillsborough, NJ 08844.
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