Topline
Charter Communications, the company behind Spectrum, and Cox have officially completed their $34.5 billion merger, creating a much larger cable and broadband powerhouse. The companies said Thursday that Cox customers should begin seeing access to Spectrum plans by mid-September.
The blockbuster cable industry deal, originally unveiled in 2025, received its final regulatory approval in California last week.
Associated Press
Key Facts
Charter already ranked as the nation’s biggest cable provider, serving about 31 million customers. With Cox’s 6 million subscribers now added to the fold, the combined company will reach roughly 37 million customers in 45 states.
The acquisition of privately held Cox was structured through a mix of Charter stock and $4 billion in cash, bringing the overall value of the transaction to approximately $34.5 billion.
As part of the broader reshaping, Charter also completed an all-stock purchase of Liberty Broadband, the firm that held a stake in Charter and was tied to billionaire media investor John Malone, widely known as the “Cable Cowboy.”
The merged business will operate under the Cox Communications name, with former Charter president and CEO Chris Winfrey remaining at the helm as chief executive of the newly combined company.
The deal closed about a week after its final legal obstacle was removed, when the California Public Utilities Commission approved the merger following commitments from the companies to uphold consumer protections and invest in expanding broadband access across California.
What Does This Mean For Consumers?
All of Cox’s 6 million customers will have access to Spectrum by mid-September, the company said on Thursday, including Spectrum Internet and Spectrum Mobile, as well as video bundles for live television and streaming services. The new company is also offering former Cox Internet customers a free mobile line for one year, provided they were not already subscribed to Cox Mobile, according to a press release on Thursday. As part of a deal with the California Public Utilities Commission, the new company also agreed to adopt consumer protection policies, including automatic bill credits for outages lasting more than 2 hours and ending equipment exchange fees for residential cable customers. The company also promised to invest $275 million to upgrade California’s cable network, and provide free Wi-Fi for 50 local schools, libraries and community centers for the next five years.
Forbes Valuation
Cox was formerly owned by Cox Enterprises, the company owned by the billionaire Cox family. The family, worth $38 billion, was listed as one of Forbes’ richest in America in 2026. Cox Enterprises is also the parent company of Cox Automotive, which owns Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. The company also owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. We value Malone’s net worth at $11.4 billion. The billionaire became famous as the “Cable Cowboy” for his massive media deals over the last few decades, and invested in Charter through Liberty Broadband in 2013. In a statement on Thursday, Malone said the merger “creates a stronger, more competitive company to further invest and innovate, while giving Liberty Broadband shareholders a direct interest in its future.”
Key Background
Charter and Cox announced the merger deal in May 2025, although it faced several regulatory reviews from states and the federal government. The Federal Communications Commission officially greenlit the merger in February, after receiving guarantees from Charter that it would commit to onshore all of Cox’s offshore jobs back to the U.S. within the next 18 months. It also committed to providing a $20 per hour minimum wage for its employees, and agreed to provide them with access to the federal government’s “Trump accounts” as benefits. More controversially, the company agreed to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, aligning with the Trump administration’s crusade against the practices.
