Billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has announced his decision to step down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp., with his resignation set to take effect in mid-November, as he revealed on Thursday.
Lachlan Murdoch, his son, will assume the role of chairman at News Corp. while concurrently maintaining his positions as executive chair and chief executive officer at Fox Corporation. Rupert Murdoch is set to be designated as chair emeritus for both organizations.
According to News Corp’s statement, Rupert Murdoch, a media mogul born in Australia, has dedicated nearly seven decades to the industry. News Corp, a global conglomerate, boasts a diverse portfolio of media assets, encompassing The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and HarperCollins Publishers, among others.
In a note to staff, Murdoch said, “For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change. But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies.”
In recent months, Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, has been embroiled in a string of public controversies. In April, Fox News reached a settlement of $787.5 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which accused the network of defamation related to its coverage of the 2020 election. Shortly thereafter, Fox News terminated its relationship with Tucker Carlson, who was the most-watched prime-time cable news host in the country at that time.
During his deposition for the trial in January, Murdoch disavowed the unfounded claims about the 2020 election being rigged that had been disseminated by the network’s hosts on the airwaves. “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” he said.
In 2019, Fox Corp. completed a $71 billion deal with Disney, selling its entertainment assets. This strategic move left Fox Corp. primarily oriented toward live television news and sports, a response to the ongoing trend of cord-cutting in the cable industry.
Meanwhile, News Corp has diversified its business in recent years, incorporating a greater emphasis on business data and services. However, its publishing sector is currently confronted with the impending challenge posed by artificial intelligence.
Rupert Murdoch, who inherited a local newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, from his father in 1952, established Australia’s first national newspaper around ten years later. He then expanded his media reach by acquiring the UK-based News of the World and The Sun in the late 1960s, followed by acquisitions in the U.S. like the New York Post, New York Magazine, and The Village Voice.
In 1985, Murdoch made a significant move into the film and television industry by purchasing 21st Century Fox and several regional U.S. TV stations. The Fox Television Group was formed the next year, and a decade later, Fox News was launched.
Fox Corporation became a publicly traded company in 2019 after the sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney in the same year.
(Source: Sara Fischer | Axios | Emily Shapiro | Max Zahn | ABC News)
