Cox Enterprises Restructuring Senior Management Team To
Improve Focus, Address Succession Issues
ATLANTA, Oct. 24 Cox Enterprises, Inc. today announced it
is restructuring its top management team to provide a deeper focus on certain
businesses and to advance its long-term succession planning. The following
appointments are effective January 1, 2001.
* David E. Easterly, 58, president and chief operating officer of Cox
Enterprises, is named to the newly created position of vice chairman.
He will continue to report to Cox Enterprises Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer James C. Kennedy, 52. Easterly will oversee Cox's
corporate business development, including Internet and new media
activities. As announced earlier this year, the top executives from
publicly traded subsidiary Cox Radio, Inc. and for Cox Television will
also report directly to him when Nicholas D. Trigony retires as
president of Cox Broadcasting and chairman of Cox Radio, Inc. at year-
end 2000.
* G. Dennis Berry, 56, president of Cox subsidiary Manheim Auctions,
Inc., will become president and chief operating officer of Cox
Enterprises. He will report to Easterly, and will be responsible for
Cox Newspapers, Inc., Manheim Auctions and several corporate
headquarters groups, including financial operations, human resources
and administration, marketing and corporate communications. Berry, who
has been active in the founding and development of AutoTrader.com, Inc.
-- a company that Cox and Manheim partially own -- will continue to
serve as its board chairman.
* Dean H. Eisner, 42, Cox Enterprises' vice president of business
development, will become president and chief executive officer of
Manheim Auctions and will report to Berry. Eisner has worked closely
with Manheim on several key business initiatives -- including the
recently completed acquisition of ADT Automotive -- and he serves on
the board of directors of AutoTrader.com and the advisory board of
Manheim subsidiary Manheim Interactive.
"What we're doing here is carefully tending our management succession
issues as we look to the future," Kennedy said. "Cox is blessed with deep
management strength and we have a responsibility to cultivate and take
advantage of that strength so that any future transitions are seamless. This
move will also greatly broaden Dennis Berry's role in the overall management
of the company and allow David Easterly more time to focus on our new media
businesses. Also, with Nick Trigony's retirement as president of Cox
Broadcasting, David can spend more time with our television and radio
companies."
The structure of Cox's publicly traded broadband communications
subsidiary, Cox Communications, Inc., is not affected by today's announcement.
James O. Robbins, 58, remains president and chief executive officer of Cox
Communications, and Kennedy remains chairman.
Background: David Easterly
David Easterly has served as president and chief operating officer of Cox
Enterprises, Inc. since 1994. He is a director of Cox Enterprises, Cox
Communications, Inc. and Cox Radio, Inc. . Easterly
came to Atlanta in 1981 as vice president of operations for Cox Newspapers.
In 1984, he was named publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and in
1986, he became president of Cox Newspapers. Prior to joining Cox, Easterly
held various reporting and copy desk assignments at the Denison Herald, the
San Angelo Standard-Times, the Long News Service at the Texas Capitol and the
Austin American-Statesman. In 1969, he became assistant managing editor for
the Statesman, and in February 1970, he joined the Dayton Daily News as a
reporter. He was named president of the Daily News in January of 1977.
Easterly is vice chairman and a member of the board of directors of the
Associated Press. He is a past president of the Southern Newspapers
Publishers Association and has held several offices, including chairman of the
SNPA Minority Affairs Committee. He received a bachelor's degree in political
science from Austin College in Sherman, Texas and has done graduate work at
the University of Texas in Austin.
Background: Dennis Berry
Dennis Berry has served as president and CEO of Manheim Auctions since
1995, and has been responsible for the corporate direction and vision of
Manheim and its divisions, Manheim Interactive and AutoTrader.com. Prior to
Manheim, Berry served as publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where
he previously held several positions, including president, vice president and
general manager, advertising director, national advertising director,
classified advertising manager and classified sales account executive. Berry
started his career at the newspaper in 1966, immediately after graduation from
the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. He
earned a bachelor's degree in advertising and public relations from the
University of Georgia.
Background: Dean Eisner
Dean Eisner was named vice president - business development and planning
of Cox Enterprises in 1995. He joined Cox Enterprises in 1992 as managing
director of Cox International (based in London), where he directed the
company's international investment strategy. He later was named treasurer of
Cox Enterprises, where he also continued to coordinate international
development. Prior to joining Cox, Eisner was managing director of AGB Market
Information in London, the largest market research company in the United
Kingdom, and managing director of AGB Surveys, a related company. Previously,
Eisner was general manager of the consumer telecommunications business for
Sony. His prior experience with CBS and General Electric included marketing
and new business development. Eisner holds an MBA from the University of
Michigan and a BS in accounting and computer services from Purdue University.
About Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is one of the nation's leading media companies and
operator of automobile auctions. Major operating subsidiaries include Cox
Newspapers, Inc. (newspapers, local and national direct mail advertising and
customized newsletters); Cox Broadcasting, Inc., (TV, spot sales, television
production, research and Cox Radio, Inc; Cox Communications, Inc. cable
distribution, programming, telephone and high-speed Internet access services);
Manheim Auctions, Inc., which operates wholesale auto auctions and several
related businesses in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand; and
Cox Interactive Media, Inc., operating a network of Internet city sites across
the country. Cox Enterprises also owns an equity stake in a range of Internet
businesses, including AutoTrader.com, the leading Internet destination and
marketplace in the United States for buyers and sellers of used cars.
