Cox Enterprises has handed two of its longtime Atlanta power players bigger corner offices, moving veteran executives Dallas Clement and Perley McBride into freshly retooled C-suite jobs as the company leans harder into new lines of business.
The Sandy Springs-based, family-owned company announced on May 13 that Clement will become president and chief operating officer, while McBride will step into the role of chief financial and administrative officer. Both executives will report to Chairman and CEO Alex Taylor and are expected to transition into their new roles this summer, a shift that comes as Cox pushes beyond its traditional cable and auto holdings into greenhouse agriculture, recycling and public-sector technology.
In a press release, Cox Enterprises said Clement, a 35-year company veteran who currently serves as president and chief financial officer, will take charge of growth operations, strategy, investments and corporate development, including the firm's Socium Ventures fund. The company framed the move as part of a broader effort to “deploy capital to invest in our growth and diversification strategies,” language attributed to Taylor in the statement. Clement will continue to report directly to Taylor as he shifts from full financial oversight into a wider operational mandate.
Perley McBride will move from his post as executive vice president and CFO of Cox Communications into a centralized enterprise finance and administrative role, according to reporting by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. McBride brings more than 30 years of telecom finance experience and has held senior roles at Frontier, Cable & Wireless, Cricket and Leap Wireless, the paper noted. Cox said McBride will oversee finance, technology, corporate services and sustainability across the enterprise.
New titles, new responsibilities
Clement's promotion largely formalizes responsibilities he has already shouldered across Cox's varied portfolio, from Autotrader to greenhouse investments, while putting day-to-day control of growth operations under a single executive. Cox's leadership page highlights his long tenure and cross-divisional experience, which the company says position him to accelerate mergers, acquisitions and strategic investments. The shift also pulls several strategic teams together under the COO role in an effort to streamline decision-making around new bets.
Why Atlanta is watching
The timing of the promotions is notable. Cox's broadband business faces a major transition this year, a planned combination that will leave Cox Enterprises as a large shareholder while shifting the combined broadband company’s base, a change local civic leaders and employees have tracked closely, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Company officials have said Cox will maintain significant operations at its Sandy Springs campus even as corporate structures evolve, making continuity in local leadership a key reassurance for the region.
Cox said the transitions will take effect this summer and that both executives will work alongside the broader leadership team as new investments are evaluated. For residents and employees around Sandy Springs, the appointments serve as a reminder that the privately held company continues to anchor its long-term plans in metro Atlanta, even as its ambitions stretch across the country and beyond.
