Rupert Murdoch steps down
Fox News made him a force in American politics
NEW YORK — Magnate Rupert Murdoch’s surprise announcement Thursday that he’s stepping down as leader of his two companies leaves his son Lachlan firmly in line of succession at Fox and the rest of the media empire.
The 92-year-old Australian billionaire’s creation of Fox News Channel has made him an enduring force in American politics. He inherited a newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, from his father in 1952 and eventually built a news and entertainment enterprise dominant in the United States and Britain.
Fox said Mr. Murdoch would become chairman emeritus of both the news network’s parent company, Fox Corp., and the News Corp. media holdings, effective in November. Lachlan will become News Corp. chairman and continue as chief executive officer of Fox Corp.
Lachlan Murdoch said that “we are grateful that he will serve as chairman emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel.”
Fox News Channel has profoundly influenced television and national politics since its start in 1996, making Mr. Murdoch a hero to some and pariah to others. The 24-hour network converted the power and energy of political talk radio to television. Within six years, it outrated CNN and MSNBC, and still does.
But it’s been a rough year for Fox, which was forced to pay $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit related
to its coverage of false claims following the 2020 presidential election. Fox also fired its most popular personality, Tucker Carlson.
Stock in Fox Corp., while positive this year, began to decline early in 2022, due in part to lawsuits and investor anxiety.
Besides Fox News, Rupert Murdoch started the Fox broadcast network, the first to successfully challenge the Big Three of ABC, CBS and
NBC, with shows like “The Simpsons.” He owns The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. He slimmed his corporate holdings with the 2019 sale of many entertainment assets to the Walt Disney Co.
Mr. Murdoch has also controlled the New York Post, which, like Fox, has promoted his conservative world view.
Despite Mr. Murdoch’s advanced age, Thursday’s announcement took some by surprise.
“I do find it shocking because I figured that Rupert would be around until he couldn’t take a breath,” said writer Claire Atkinson, who’s working on a biography of Mr. Murdoch.
In a letter Thursday to staff, Mr. Murdoch thundered about elites who have “open contempt for those who are not members of their rarified class.” Mr. Murdoch’s letter made it
clear he doesn’t consider himself one of them, despite his status as a media executive and his family’s wealth, estimated by Forbes in 2020 at about $19 billion.
He also indicated his retirement won’t include much beach time.
“I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas,” he wrote. “Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community. I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest.”
Mr. Murdoch and his family, particularly children James, Lachlan, Elisabeth and Prudence, were said to be the model for the HBO drama “Succession.”
“Rupert is certainly engineering a cleaner exit than Logan Roy’s departure from Waystar-Royco,” said former CNN president Jon Klein, who consulted on the series. “And he’s leaving behind a lot less of a mess.”
That may be the case — for now, said Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff, who next week is publishing a book, “The End of Fox News.”
“He is 92, and that has taken a toll on him, of course, but the company, too,” Mr. Wolff told The Associated Press. “He has remained up until today the singular decision-maker, and he can’t communicate what he wants and people don’t understand what he wants” like they did in the past.
Major changes are unlikely right away under Lachlan Murdoch, who’s largely been running things as CEO for a couple of years.
When Mr. Murdoch dies, control of the Fox empire will revert to his four adult children, each of whom has an equal say in the business, Mr. Wolff said. “That’s when the real new chapter begins,” he said.
Since Lachlan most closely shares his father’s politically conservative views, Mr. Wolff predicted that James Murdoch — known as the more liberal sibling — would eventually take control of Fox News, or that it would be sold.
“It will certainly not exist as the Fox News Channel that we have known and loved, or hated, for the past 25 years,” Mr. Wolff said.
Ms. Atkinson said that she has talked with people at the company, and they’re saying Murdoch is “fine and as engaged as ever.”
Thursday’s announcement, she said, “is really just Lachlan taking the mantle and saying, ‘now it’s time.’ It’s his company. His company only.”
One of Mr. Murdoch’s chief television competitors, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, said that over many decades, no other individual has had as much impact on the media.
“His contributions to the news industry across several continents have been enormous, helping to ensure a balanced and truly free media,” Mr. Ruddy said.
Shares of News Corp. and Fox closed higher Thursday.