HONOLULU (AP) – Barbara Cox Anthony, an heir to the Cox media fortune, died Monday following an extended illness, Atlanta-based media conglomerate Cox Enterprises Inc. announced. She was 84.

Anthony and her sister, Anne Cox Chambers, inherited the company from their father, founder and three-time Ohio Gov. James M. Cox, in 1974.

The company includes cable television distributor Cox Communications as well as 17 daily newspapers and 26 non-dailies, according to its Web site.

Forbes magazine in March estimated Anthony’s assets and those of her sister at $12.6 billion apiece, making them the 45th richest people in the world.

Anthony, who lived in the Diamond Head area, was chairwoman of Dayton Newspapers and a member of the Cox Enterprises board of directors.

She also served as a member of the board of the Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island and was the only female member on the board of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International Association.

Anthony was a director of the James M. Cox Foundation and a director and founder of the Hawaii School for Girls, now called La Pietra.

“She was a great leader and she left a wonderful legacy in our school,” said Nancy White, head of La Pietra, which opened its doors in 1964.

Anthony was chairwoman of board of the school with grades 6 through 12 until last spring, when she became chairwoman emeritus, White said. Anthony handed out diplomas at commencement exercises every May, she said.