John Dyer named president and CEO of Cox Enterprises

John Dyer

Following a meeting of its board of directors, Cox Enterprises, Inc. announced today that Chief Operating Officer John M. Dyer will assume the role of president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Dyer will assume leadership of the company following the retirement of outgoing CEO Jimmy W. Hayes.

"In the 36 years John has worked at Cox, he has always done a terrific job and always risen to meet every new challenge he was presented," said Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises.  "Most recently, he has been an incredible chief operating officer and understands all our businesses.  He is committed to our employees and our customers and I'm excited to work with John as he leads our company in an exciting future."

A 36-year Cox veteran, Dyer will be responsible for the company's four major subsidiaries: Cox Communications, Manheim, Cox Media Group and AutoTrader Group, as well as corporate functions including financial operations, human resources and administration. In his most recent positions as chief operating officer and before then, chief financial officer of Cox Enterprises, Inc. from 2008-2013, he led a realignment of the company's executive management team, strengthened the company's balance sheet and oversaw more than $1 billion in acquisitions.

"I am honored and humbled to lead Cox, a company that values its employees, delivers superior products and services to its customers and strives to be a responsible and sustainable corporate partner in the communities in which we operate," Dyer said. "We've been at the forefront of transformational change in the media, telecom and automotive industries for decades, and I am excited about the ways we'll continue to grow our existing businesses and invest in future opportunities."

Dyer joined Cox in 1977, spending most of his career in increasingly expansive financial and operational roles to help build the company's broadband and entertainment subsidiary into the third-largest cable provider in the nation. As the chief financial officer at Cox Communications from 2005-2008, Dyer was responsible for financial planning and also managed the company's commercial services and cable advertising divisions: Cox Business and Cox Media respectively.

Prior to that position, he played a critical role as senior vice president of operations managing the company's mergers and acquisitions as it integrated $10 billion in cable operations in the central and southwestern regions of the country. Dyer briefly worked for Times Mirror Cable, where he was vice president of operations, and returned to Cox when it acquired the company in 1995.

Dyer serves on Cox Enterprises' board of directors and its executive strategy committee. He also is a member of the Georgia State University Foundation Board of Trustees and the Marcus Autism Board of Trustees.