Media mogul Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox, News Corp chair after seven-decade stint
Rupert Murdoch is stepping down at Fox and News Corp, after over seven decades that revolutionized news and entertainment industry and will now serve as Chairman Emeritus. His eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, who has served as co-chair of News Corp, will take over as the next chairman of the companies
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is stepping down at Fox and News Corp, after over seven decades that revolutionized news and entertainment industry and will now serve as Chairman Emeritus. His eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, who has served as co-chair of News Corp, will take over as the next chairman of the companies, reported The wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Murdoch, 92 years, will exit his roles atop each company as of November, when they hold annual meetings, the companies 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,” the WSJ quoted Rupert Murdoch’s memo to staff.
He called Lachlan a “passionate, principled leader” who can take the companies into the future, the report added.
“We are grateful that he will serve as chairman emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies,” Reuters quoted Lachlan Murdoch as saying. In a letter accessed by Reuters, Rupert Murdoch ensured Fox employees that the companies were “in robust health, as am I”.
“We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years – I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them. But the battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense,” the letter reportedly read.
Murdoch is stepping down when Fox and News Corp, both are confronting fundamental challenges. On one hand, Fox is wrestling with the profound implications of cable cord-cutting and the growth of streaming, on the other News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, Times of London and other publications, are struggling to find the right formula for growth in digital age.
“Our companies are in robust health, as am I,” the WSJ quoted Murdoch. “Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years,” he added.
Murdoch, a native of Australia, inherited a small newspaper business at age 22 after his father, a former war correspondent, passed away. He expanded his business empire in Australia and New Zealand before expanding into the United Kingdom in 1969 in the US in 1974 by acquiring or creating iconic brands across publishing, television and film.
He launched the Fox network on the back of franchises like “The Simpsons” and NFL football; presided over the Hollywood studio behind “Avatar” and “Titanic”; built up pay-TV giant Sky in the UK, the WSJ report said.
“I’ve had no choice to be anything but a catalyst for change,” he said in a 1996 speech at the National Press Club in Washington. “That sometimes results in your being treated like the skunk at a tea party. But that’s the fate of anyone who challenges the status quo,” the report added.
In his memo on Thursday he wrote about what he sees as a continuing battle over freedom of speech and thought. “Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class,” he wrote. “Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”
He split up his business in 2013, with the publishing assets keeping the company’s original name, News Corp, and the entertainment assets going to 21st Century Fox. Later he sold most of Fox's movie studio, FX, and National Geographic Networks and its stake in Star India to Disney for $71.3 billion in March 2019.
According to securities filings, the media mogul continues to be a major shareholder in the two companies. He and his family have a roughly 40% voting stake in News Corp and about a 44% voting stake in Fox Corp.
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Business NewsCompaniesNewsMedia mogul Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox, News Corp chair after seven-decade stint
First Published:21 Sep 2023, 08:45 PM IST
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