After 70 years, Rupert Murdoch announced today that he is retiring as chairman of Fox and News Corp. His second son Lachlan has been chosen by his father to continue the family’s media business.
The 92-year-old millionaire, who was born in Australia, said he will take up a new position as Chairman Emeritus and that the “time is right” to do so while maintaining that “our companies are in robust health, as am I.”
In the middle of November, his 52-year-old son Lachlan will take over as the only chairman of both Fox and News Corp, inheriting an enterprise that has made the Murdochs’ net worth an estimated $21.7 billion.
The popular HBO miniseries Succession was based on this power struggle, with the ultimate victor Lachlan allegedly accusing his elder brother James, who was formerly the heir apparent, of leaking information about the family to the show’s authors.
92-Year-Old Rupert Murdoch FINALLY Stepping Back From Chairman Of Fox And NewsCorp After 70 Years
The Sun, Times, and Sunday Times owner Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post in the US, wrote an extraordinary letter to his staff today and declared: “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”
After leading the family’s reaction to the phone hacking crisis in Britain, James Murdoch was previously considered the front-runner to succeed his father. However, he was allegedly “iced out” of the Murdoch family reunion on the Amalfi Coast during the summer.
In 2020, he resigned from the family media board of directors due to “disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions,” which some perceived as an assault on Lachlan, the head of Fox News.
Even though Lachlan Murdoch currently supervises Fox Corp. and News Corp., the transfer of Murdoch‘s voting shares in News Corp. and Fox Corp. to his four adult children might result in a situation where three of the children could outvote a third, thereby igniting a conflict over the future of the businesses.
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