Meet The Richest Person In Georgia

ATLANTA, GA — Their family business has informed Georgians on everything from current events to the resale value of cars, and the info has helped make one person the richest in Georgia. Forbes came out with its list of the "Richest Person in Every State" last week.

And the richest person in Georgia is....James Kennedy, who is worth $12.6 billion. The media heir is the chairman of Cox Enterprises, and is Georgia's richest person, according to Forbes. He is the grandson of company founder James M. Cox. Cox Enterprises counts among its holdings the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Kelley Blue Book.

The past year has been a good one for the ultra-wealthy. Forbes says all but one person on the 2017 ranking also made last year’s ranking, and these billionaires saw their fortunes increase $1.74 billion on average. Many of those named the wealthiest person in their state have had that ranking for several years, include the Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffet, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Several of those on the list own professional sports teams. Many made their money in retail, finance and investments, says Forbes.

»SEE ALSO: Nine Georgia Billionaires Make 2017 Forbes List

Kennedy ranked at No. 16 overall on the Forbes list. The magazine says during his tenure as CEO from 1988 to 2008 company revenues rose from $1.8 billion to $15.4 billion. Kennedy's first job at the company was as a production assistant in the newspaper division in 1972.

He inherited his 25 percent stake in Cox Enterprises from his mother, Barbara Cox Anthony, who died in 2007.

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