ASCMA

Ascent Capital Group Inc.

A holding company built around home security, Ascent Capital Group's core business was alarm monitoring through its subsidiary Monitronics International, which later licensed the iconic Brinks name and became Brinks Home Security. The company grew out of Ascent Media, a firm with roots in Liberty Media that once provided technical services to the entertainment industry. Its story holds a quirky origin: Monitronics founder Jim Hull reportedly sketched his business idea during a plane flight in 1988.