“This Is a Company That Could Be Worth a Hell of a Lot More”: How Axios Will Shake Out After $525 Million Sale to Cox

In 1898, at the tail end of America’s Gilded Age, a 28-year-old Ohio businessman named James M. Cox bought the Dayton Evening News for $26,000 (about $928,000 in modern tender), planting the seeds of the $20 billion company now known as Cox Enterprises. On Monday, Cox—these days primarily in the business of telecommunications and automotive services—announced a deal that harkens back to its very first foray into media 124 years ago: the acquisition of Axios for a reported $525 million. This time, the prize is not a pioneering local newspaper, but an influential news website that is expanding into local… Read Full Article