Words: Tom Ward
At 92, the news that Rupert Murdoch is set to retire from the boards of his companies Fox and News Corporation isn’t exactly shocking, but it is surprising. Like Logan Roy in Succession, the HBO series heavily modelled on Murdoch’s media empire and it’s testy figurehead, Rupert Murdoch has flirted with retirement on and off for some time now, and the question of who was next in line has never been exactly clear. Now we know; Murdoch has named his son Lachlan – the eldest child of Murdoch and Scottish journalist and author Anna Maria dePeyster – as sole executive in charge of his global empire. But how will he fare, and how did Murdoch Snr get here in the first place?
Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1931, Keith Rupert Murdoch is the second of four children born to Dame Elisabeth and Sir Keith Murdoch, a former war correspondent turned regional newspaper magnate and radio station owner. At school, Rupert Murdoch followed in his father’s footsteps as co-editor of the school journal. He continued with a job at the Melbourne Herald, flirting with socialism during his time at Oxford University where he was reportedly known as ‘Red Rupert’ part in thanks to a bust of Lenin he kept in his room. This would be in stark contrast to his later political leanings. His companies, infused with a brand of right-wing populism, have amassed the power to shape, and at times make or break, presidents and prime ministers,” writes Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times.
The patriarch flanked by sons Lachlan and James Murdoch — who he says he regrets not spending more time with
Murdoch began amassing this power by taking over his father’s business News Limited at the age of 21 after his father’s death. From there, he began to acquire newspapers throughout Australia and New Zealand. In the late 1960s he branched out to Britain, buying the News of the World and The Sun. He purchased The Times and The Sunday Times in 1981, throwing his weight behind Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative party before switching to New Labour under Tony Blair (who is godfather to Murdoch’s daughter, Grace). He began buying American newspapers in the 1970s, most notably the New York Post in 1974. He eventually went on to own papers such as the Wall Street Journal and – perhaps most notably – media behemoth The Fox Corporation. At the time of writing, Murdoch is valued at $17.3bn.
Although the question of ‘Who’s next?’ has long been on everyone’s mind, as the New York Times notes, “Mr. Murdoch, 92, had shown no intention of stepping down or even slowing down.” The move to name Lachlan was a surprise (his eldest child, Prudence MacLeod was appointed to the board of Times Newspapers Ltd. in 2011). Lachlan was born in London in 1971 and was raised in New York City. His training began early: at the age of 18 he accompanied his father on a trip to Australia where Murdoch enrolled Lachlan in three month’s training at the Daily Mirror. At 22 he was appointed manager of Queensland Newspapers group. At 23, he became publisher of Australia’s first national paper, The Australian. In 1995 he was bumped up to deputy CEO of News Limited, and then executive director of News Corporation in 1996.
Ted Turner once dubbed Murdoch the most dangerous man in the world
Soon, Lachlan was making moves of his own. Along with Australian businessman James Packer, he encouraged News Corporation to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the telecommunications start-up One.Tel, established in 1995. The company crashed and burned, and in 2014 Murdoch and Packer agreed to pay an A$40 million settlement over the company’s failure. But he did have some early hits: Lachlan led a $10.75 million investment in real estate advertising company the REA Group, which in 2014 was valued at more than $3.6bn to News Corp.
After an initial blip, it seemed the boy had done good and was on track to take over Dad’s business. Then, in 2005 when Lachlan was 33, he resigned from News Corp – apparently dashing his father’s hopes that he would take over. Lachlan apparently left a lunch with his father explaining that he needed to become his own man, before boarding the company private jet and returning home. Years in private investment followed, before Lachlan returned to his father’s embrace in 2014 when he was appointed non-executive co-chairman of News Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. To those watching, it seemed once again that Murdoch was positioning his eldest son to take over. Lachlan was also appointed as Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox, becoming chairman and CEO of the Fox Corporation when the company was bought by Disney in 2019.
Since then, Lachlan has kept his head down. His family life seems pedestrian (given his circumstances) and he’s collected all the requisite lawsuits suitable for a man set to take over one of the world’s largest corporations. As part of the infamous Dominion lawsuit from earlier this year, Lachlan and his father found themselves as defendants, accused by Dominion Voting Systems for spreading a false narrative accusing Dominion of election fraud. Fox News Corp settled for $787.5 million in April 2023 – an astonishing blow and one that has surely shaken the foundations of Murdoch’s empire and perhaps even hastened his decision to step back.
Voting machine maker Smartmatic filed a similar lawsuit in 2021, asking $2.7bn from Fox, claiming “Fox News engaged in conspiracy to spread disinformation about Smartmatic. They lied, and did so knowingly and intentionally.” The trial is currently in its discovery phase, with prosecutors seeking access to Lachlan and Murdoch’s emails.
A young Murdoch with his fledgling Daily Mirror
He was executive vice president of News Corporation during the News of the World phone hacking scandal, with a UK Parliamentary report claiming Murdoch “showed wilful ignorance of the extent of phone-hacking” and found him “guilty of an astonishing lack of curiosity” over the issue of phone hacking. James left News Corp in 2020 after apparently disagreeing with his father on certain editorial content and other “strategic decisions.”James now sits on the board of Tesla Inc. “Despite James being known as the “smart one”, Lachlan, as the first son, held a profound pull for the media mogul,” notes an ABC news report, citing journalist and Murdoch biographer Michael Wolfe.
James and Lachlan reportedly have a fractious relationship. And James may still make a comeback: Murdoch has reportedly placed his family’s stake in his empire in a trust which gives his eldest children (Lachlan, James, Prudence and Elisabeth) an equal vote upon his death. Murdoch apparently never considered Prudence to take over, while Elisabeth is currently Executive Chairman of TV and film production and development company, Sister. Rumours have persisted that James may seek to rally his sisters to his side to take control away from Lachlan. But, until his death, Murdoch retains a controlling vote.
Whatever happens when Rupert Murdoch eventually dies, his appointment of Lachlan to take over is set in stone. Not that Murdoch is stepping down just yet. While he has announced plans to leave his board positions he will continue to offer council to his son “actively and regularly.”
“We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years — I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them,” Murdoch wrote in a company-wide memo. “I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest, and reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas, and advice.”
In other words, News Corp isn’t quite out of the old man’s grasp yet.
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