Nelson Fox is the son of Fox & Sons founder Schuyler Fox and the father of Joe Fox. At the time of You've Got Mail, Schuyler is more or less retired. When the three generations of Foxes have a meeting, it is in Nelson's huge corner office, so he is apparently the CEO of the company. Despite this, Joe appears to be the public face of Fox Books, and is the one who defends it in a TV interview. An author says of Joe He's going to take over everything , and Frank Navasky calls him the destroyer of City Books, the enemy of the mid-list novel. Perhaps Nelson does not perform a more public role because he lacks Joe's charisma.Nelson parted ways with Joe's mother when Joe was still quite young, as several of the women with whom he was involved in the subsequent years had been Joe's nannies. When a relationship ends, even when it is due to the woman leaving him for someone else, Nelson is in the habit of moving to his large boat, moored at the 79th Street Boat Basin. He immediately begins a search for a new relationship, although he doesn't believe he will ever find the one woman who will bring him true joy. Nelson's most recent failed relationship was with Gillian Quinn, with whom he has a son Matthew, age 4. Although they were briefly engaged, she left Nelson for Matt's nanny, Maureen. Show less «