Charter Communications

Charter Communications was formed in January 1993 by three former Cencom Cable executives: former president and CEO Howard Wood, former COO Barry Babcock and former CFO Jerry Kent. Crown Media, a Dallas-based subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, made the initial investment and received a 51 percent non-voting stake.⁠[1]

On July 30, 1998, Marcus Cable, which MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft is a technology company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with businesses spanning Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, gaming and devices.Open the full entry co-founder Paul AllenPaul AllenPaul Allen (1953–2018) was an American entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975. After leaving Microsoft’s management in 1983 he founded the investment and project-management firm Vulcan, owned the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, funded private spaceflight projects including SpaceShipOne and Stratolaunch, and created institutions such as the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, giving more than $2.65 billion to philanthropy during his life.Open the full entry had taken control of that April, agreed to buy St. Louis-based Charter for $4.5 billion. Charter had 1.3 million subscribers and Marcus Cable 1.2 million; the combined company was to be the seventh-largest U.S. cable operator, based in St. Louis, with Charter CEO Jerald Kent keeping his title.⁠[2]

On November 9, 1999, Charter Communications, Inc. priced its initial public offering of 170,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at $19 per share under the symbol CHTR, with underwriters holding an option on an additional 25,500,000 shares.⁠[3]

The Marcus merger was completed in April 1999, adding systems with about 1,001,000 customers. In November 1999 the company completed an initial public offering of 195,500,000 Class A shares for net proceeds of $3.57 billion. At the end of 1999 the company was headquartered in St. Louis, Jerald Kent was president and CEO, and Paul Allen controlled about 93.6 percent of its voting power.⁠[4]

On March 27, 2009, Charter filed its pre-arranged plan and Chapter 11 petitions, and on November 30 it completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11. The restructuring reduced debt by about 40 percent, or about $8 billion; existing common shares were cancelled and the company planned to seek a Nasdaq listing for new stock. Paul Allen remained an investor with the largest voting interest.⁠[5]

On December 19, 2011, Charter named Thomas M. Rutledge, chief operating officer of Cablevision from April 2004 to December 2011, as president and CEO effective February 13, 2012. Michael J. Lovett, who had announced he would step down, stayed until February 12 to assist the transition.⁠[6]

In March 2013, John Malone’s Liberty Media agreed to acquire about 26.9 million Charter shares and 1.1 million warrants at $95.50 per share, a 27.3 percent stake, for $2.617 billion.⁠[7]

On May 18, 2016, the transactions closed: Time Warner Cable and Legacy Charter became wholly owned subsidiaries of New Charter, which also acquired Bright House from Advance/Newhouse. Each Time Warner Cable share could receive $100 in cash plus 0.48908178 New Charter Class A shares, and Liberty Broadband bought about 21.97 million shares for $4.3 billion. The stock kept the ticker CHTR.⁠[8]

On August 31, 2016, S&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) is a global index provider that compiles and licenses benchmark indices including the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was formed in 2012 by combining McGraw-Hill’s S&P index business with the Dow Jones Indexes business held by a joint venture of CME Group and Dow Jones, and it is now the index business division of S&P Global, which holds about 73% of the interest.Open the full entry announced that Charter would replace EMC Corp. in the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry after the close of trading on September 7, classified under GICS Consumer Discretionary (Cable & Satellite).⁠[9]

On August 24, 2017, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Charter would replace E. I. du Pont de Nemours in the S&P 100 prior to the open on September 1.⁠[10]

In December 2018, Charter settled the New York attorney general’s internet speed suit for $174.2 million. The complaint alleged that Time Warner Cable had promised broadband speeds it knew it could not deliver; Attorney General Barbara Underwood called it the “largest-ever consumer payout by an internet service provider.” Charter must substantiate speeds with industry-accepted testing.⁠[11]

In December 2019, Texas customer Betty Thomas was killed by Charter technician Roy Holden, who pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. A jury awarded $337.5 million in compensatory damages in June 2022 and about $7 billion in punitive damages in July; in September Dallas County Judge Juan Renteria cut the total to $1.15 billion.⁠[12]

In January 2023, while appealing, Charter settled with the family of 83-year-old Betty Thomas, for an undisclosed amount “substantially lower” than the $268 million the family had earlier agreed to, fully covered by its liability insurance.⁠[13]

On September 21, 2022, Charter named chief operating officer Chris Winfrey president and CEO effective December 1. Winfrey joined as CFO in 2010 and held that role for more than a decade. Rutledge, CEO since 2012 and chairman since 2016, became executive chairman through the end of his contract in November 2023.⁠[14]

On November 12, 2024, Charter and Liberty Broadband signed a merger agreement. On May 16, 2025, Charter and Cox EnterprisesCox EnterprisesCox Enterprises is an American family-owned business group headquartered in Atlanta.Open the full entry signed a transaction agreement covering Cox’s commercial fiber and managed IT and cloud businesses for $3.5 billion in cash and the contribution of Cox Communications’ residential cable business to Charter Holdings.⁠[15]

Charter’s 2025 revenue was $54.8 billion, down 0.6 percent from $55.1 billion in 2024, and net income attributable to Charter shareholders was $4.987 billion, compared with $5.083 billion. At December 31, 2025, it had 29.68 million Internet customers and 11.77 million mobile lines.⁠[16]

As of December 31, 2025, Charter had approximately 91,900 active full-time equivalent employees.⁠[15]

Charter completed its transactions with Cox Communications on August 19, 2026, and in October posted pro forma information as if they had closed on January 1, 2024.⁠[17]

On August 20, 2026, Charter announced the closing: the parent company will be renamed Cox Communications within a year and continue to operate as Spectrum. Winfrey remains president and CEO, Cox Enterprises chairman and CEO Alex Taylor became chairman, and former chairman Eric Zinterhofer became lead independent director. Cox Enterprises owns about 26 percent of fully diluted shares, and headquarters remain in Stamford.⁠[18]

A Cox Enterprises subsidiary received about 33.6 million Charter Holdings common units, $6 billion of 6.875 percent convertible preferred units and about $4 billion in cash, and about $12 billion of Cox debt remains at Charter subsidiaries. Liberty Broadband holders received 0.236 of a Charter share per share, a net decrease of about 4.7 million Charter shares outstanding.⁠[19]

Charter planned to roll out Spectrum brand, pricing and packaging across former Cox markets from mid-September 2026; the combined footprint spans 45 U.S. states.⁠[20]