The $34.5 Billion-Dollar Deal That Started With a Love Letter

One of the biggest deals of the year so far started around Valentine’s Day, with a love letter.

Chris Winfrey, the chief executive officer of cable giant Charter Communications Inc., wrote to his counterpart at Cox Communications Inc. with a proposal: If Cox was at all interested in combining the two companies, now was the time to move. The stars, he said, were finally aligned.