Phil Cox: Fact vs. Fiction

While Phil Cox is generally well known in the Cincinnati business community, he is not a household name - yet. But while many Cincinnatians may not know him, they have certainly felt his impact on their daily lives.

Phil Cox has served as chairman of the board of Duke Energy, Cincinnati Bell, Diebold and many other well known Cincinnati companies. Most frightening of all, however, is the fact that this fraudster is on the Federal Reserve Board of Cleveland.

Yes, dear reader, Phil Cox has influence on federal banking policy.

But those board seats, while certainly part of his current resume, were gained through deliberate deception and dishonesty related to inflating his past resume.

Here is a quick comparison of some of the false claims made by Mr. Cox. The facts are in parenthesis:

• Graduated from XU with a double major in psychology and political science (False. XU confirms he never graduated. Bill Sloat's blog first broke this scandal back in 2007).
• Earned a masters degree in psychology (False. That's tough to do if you don't have an undergraduate degree first).
• Earned a juris doctor degree from Univ. of Michigan Law School (Again, false. No undergrad degree, no admission to law school).
• Played football for the XU (False. Not listed on any XU roster).
  
• Played two years in the NFL for the Washington Redskins (False. The team has no record of this, he is not listed on any roster).
• Served for three years as a United States Secret Service agent (False. The USSS has no record of such service and denies the claim).
• Took a bullet in the shoulder for President Nixon (False.)

Of course, many are still skeptical that Phil Cox could or would have made any of the claims listed above.

You don't have to take our word for it. You can watch the videos in the previous post, but keep in mind those are just the tip of iceberg. In our possession, we have the following evidence and will release it to any member of the Cincinnati media upon request:

• 9 total videos of Phil Cox being introduced as a graduate of XU, and/or Michigan law school, and/or playing football for the Redskins, and/or working for the US Secret Service, and /or having a master's in psychology. When he takes the podium following the introduction, not one time does he ever correct the introduction.
  
• Dozens of newspaper clips (scanned and original) claiming some or all the above
• A letter signed by Phil Cox in which he claims to have worked for the US Secret Service
• A bio on Cox Financial letterhead in which he claims various academic degrees and having played NFL football for the Washington Redskins

There are also several recent articles in which Mr. Cox makes false claims about his background. Here are some examples:

Lebanon Western Star, 6/23/2005: Cox shaping business, academic worlds.

Excerpt:

Cox turned down other scholarship offers and stayed home to play running back on the football team at Xavier University, while studying psychology and political science.

“I had little interest in finance,” he said.

After graduation, Cox applied for a sales job at a prominent Cincinnati company he declines to identify.

Cincinnati SmartBusiness Magazine, December 2009: Goal Keeper - How Phillip Cox pushes his employees at Cox Financial Corp. to continuously improve themselves and the company

Excerpt:

Education: Graduated Xavier University, holds Doctorate of Letters degree from the College of Mount St. Joseph and Cincinnati Technical College

What was your first job, and what did you learn from it?

General Foods. I learned that I didn’t understand marketing at all.