Howard Ellis Cox Jr.

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Howard Ellis Cox, Jr.
Howard Cox.jpg
Howard Ellis Cox, Jr. at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017
Born (1944-02-01) February 1, 1944 (age 81)
New York, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Princeton (BA)
Columbia School of Law (JD)
Harvard Business School (MBA)
Occupation Venture Capitalist

Howard Ellis Cox Jr. (born February 1, 1944) is an American venture capitalist and philanthropist. He has also been active in healthcare development and national security. He joined Greylock Partners in 1971 and is a special limited partner. [1] He is on the Executive Committee of In-Q-Tel. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Cox was born on February 1, 1944 to parents Howard Ellis Cox and Anne Crane Delafield ( née  Finch) [4] [5] in New York City. Cox's mother is related to Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, the first Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and later the United States Minister to France for negotiating The Louisiana Purchase. [6]

He attended grade school at Allen-Stevenson and graduated from Collegiate School in New York City. He graduated from Princeton University in 1964, where he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1967, and graduated from Harvard Business School in 1969. [7]

His brother, Edward F. Cox, married Tricia Nixon, daughter of Richard Nixon, on June 12, 1971. Howard Cox was best man. [8] Demonstrating a close degree of family connection to politics, his mother, father, and brother spent Christmas eve and day at the Whitehouse in 1971 together with the Eisenhower and Nixon families. [9]

Career

Investment career

Cox joined Greylock Partners in 1971, [1] it was one of the first venture capital firms in the United States. It was based in Boston and more recently moved to Silicon Valley. [10] He is currently a Special Limited Partner. [11]

Cox is a former director of the investment firm Brown Advisory, [12] an advisory trustee of a number of Fidelity Mutual Funds [13] and director emeritus of Stryker Corporation. [14]

Cox served on the board of three New York Stock Exchange Companies: Stryker, [15] Centene, [16] and Affiliated Publications [17] (owner of the Boston Globe). [18] He is a past chairman of the National Venture Capital Association. [19]

National security career

Cox served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis). [20] [21] [7] He joined the board of In-Q-Tel in 2000. [22] [2] He is a member of the Executive Committee and Chairs the Finance and Investment Committee, [12] and serves on the boards of Business Executives for National Security [23] and the Brookings Institution. [24] Cox is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations [25] and former member Secretary of Defense Business Board of Directors. [26]

Wealth and philanthropy

Howard Cox is reportedly a billionaire (as of 2012). [27] He has been a significant donor to Republican super PACs. [27] In 2017, he purchased a 2,900 square foot home in Westhampton Beach for $4 million. [28]

In 2021, Cox donated $20 million to the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium and it was renamed the Cox Science Center and Aquarium. [29] [30]

References

  1. 1 2 "Howard Cox". Greylock Partners . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 Szoldra, Paul. "Some of the people investing the CIA's money in startups are under scrutiny". Business Insider.
  3. ↑ "Bridging technology, venture, and intelligence – In-Q-Tel – Strategic investor that accelerates the development and delivery of cutting-edge technologies to U.S. Government agencies".
  4. ↑ "Howard Cox, 76, Prominent Lawyer". South Florida Sun Sentinel. 7 April 1989.
  5. ↑ "Anne Cox, 86, a Socialite and Designer, Dies". The New York Times. 28 January 2005.
  6. ↑ "Howard E. Cox". Business Executives for National Security. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  7. 1 2 "Howard E. Cox". Baker Library. Harvard Business School.
  8. ↑ Naughton, James M. (June 11, 1971). "White House and Club Sites of Wedding Fetes". The New York Times . Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  9. ↑ "White House Glitters for Christmas and Reunion". The New York Times . December 14, 1971. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  10. ↑ "Greylock: Howard Cox". Alumni Stories. Harvard Business School. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "Howard Cox". Greylock Partners . Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  12. 1 2 "Howard E. Cox, Jr. | Brown Advisory". Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  13. ↑ "Our Leadership: Howard Cox". The Asia Foundation . Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  14. ↑ "Stryker - Governance - Board of Directors - Person Details".
  15. ↑ "Stryker announces Mr. Howard E. Cox, Jr. will retire from Board of Directors". Yahoo Finance (Press release). GlobeNewswire. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  16. ↑ Manning, Margie (25 November 2001). "Neidorff's stock valued at $5.7 million" . St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  17. ↑ United States. Securities and Exchange Commission (1992). Official Summary of Security Transactions and Holdings Reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. p. 5.
  18. ↑ "Official Summary of Security Transactions and Holdings Reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935". 1992.
  19. ↑ Miller, Devin. "Howard Cox Presented with Lifetime Achievement in Venture Capital Award – National Venture Capital Association – NVCA". National Venture Capital Association - NVCA.
  20. ↑ "Howard E. Cox Jr. Buys in Westhampton Beach". 27 East. The Express News Group. 23 March 2017.
  21. ↑ "ISO Group's Board of Directors". ISO Group. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  22. ↑ "Our History". IQT. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  23. ↑ "Leadership". Business Executives for National Security. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  24. ↑ "Board of Trustees". Brookings Institution. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  25. ↑ "Council on Foreign Relations". Council on Foreign Relations.
  26. ↑ "Department Announces New Defense Business Board Members" (Press release). United States Department of Defense. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  27. 1 2 Sengupta, Somini (October 8, 2012). "Romney and G.O.P. Make Inroads in Silicon Valley". The New York Times . Retrieved 2024-04-01. But the Republicans have been particularly successful at tapping Silicon Valley billionaires for related super PACs. Among them are Meg Whitman, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard and a former Republican candidate for governor; Howard Cox, advisory partner at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners; and Peter Thiel
  28. ↑ Cassidy, Grace (27 March 2017). "Howard E. Cox Jr. now has a home in Westhampton Beach". Curbed . New York: Vox Media . Retrieved 24 October 2025.
  29. ↑ Goldfisher, Alastair (12 January 2022). "Greylock Partners' Howard Cox is giving back to science and tech". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  30. ↑ Keller, Amy (27 July 2022). "Meet some of Florida's top philanthropic donors who've made seven-figure gifts to non-profits". Florida Trend . Times Publishing Company . Retrieved 21 July 2025.
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