Rupert Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox, News Corp
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[September 22, 2023]
By Helen Coster, Aditya Soni and Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) -Rupert Murdoch has stepped down as the chairman of Fox Corp
and News Corp, ending a more than seven-decade career during which he
created a media empire spanning from Australia to the United States.
His son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become the sole chairman of News Corp and
continue as the chair and CEO of Fox, the companies said on Thursday.
The transition solidifies Lachlan's role as the leader of the media
empire, putting to rest questions of succession within the Murdoch
family.
Lachlan takes over the Murdoch empire as the media industry is battered
by challenges ranging from the decline in traditional television
viewership, to news organizations battling tech companies over alleged
copyright theft in the age of artificial intelligence.
In a memo to staff Thursday, Murdoch wrote: "Our companies are in robust
health, as am I."
Earlier this year Murdoch, 92, scrapped a plan that would have reunited
his media empire by merging Fox and News Corp, after several top
shareholders rejected the proposal on the grounds that it would fail to
realize the full value of the company.
Murdoch, who has near-controlling stakes in both companies, will be
appointed chairman emeritus of both companies.
The executive transition coincides with the annual meeting of
shareholders for Fox and News Corp in mid-November.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/22/images/ads/current/debbiesflora_lda_081123.png)
Fox News continues to be the number one U.S. cable news network, playing
an influential role in U.S. politics, particularly among Republicans who
prize Fox's conservative-leaning audience.
Earlier this year, Fox settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting
Systems for $787.5 million, averting a trial in which Murdoch, Lachlan
and Fox executives and hosts were expected to testify.
The trial would have put Fox in the crosshairs over its amplification of
false vote-rigging claims in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Legal
experts said the settlement was the largest ever struck by an American
media company.
Fox still faces a lawsuit from voting technology firm Smartmatic, which
in 2021 sued Fox for $2.7 billion over similar claims, as well as
shareholder lawsuits accusing Fox Corp officers and directors of
breaching their duties by allowing the company to become mired in
defamation claims.
"Many of his enterprises still produce a lot of important news which
helps keep the world informed in ways that might not have occurred were
it not for his leadership," said Brian Wieser, media analyst at advisory
firm Madison & Wall.
"But it’s impossible to ignore the other side of that, where Fox News
amplified toxicity in the US political environment, and other properties
similarly impacted other territories."
Shares of Fox ended the day 3.2% higher after the news of Murdoch
stepping down. News Corp shares gained 1.3%.
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![](../images/092223PIX/ent_d.70.jpg)
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch poses for a photograph with his sons
Lachlan and James in London, Britain March 5, 2016. REUTERS/Peter
Nicholls/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/22/images/ads/current/peasleymemorials_lda_2022.png) SUCCESSION
Murdoch, who has six children, has long desired his children to
eventually take the reins of the empire. His son James had been CEO
of Twenty-First Century Fox before the company's decision to sell
its film and television assets to Walt Disney Co for $71.3 billion,
a deal that closed in 2019.
James then channeled proceeds from the deal into a private
investment firm, Lupa Systems. Lachlan was appointed CEO of the new
Fox Corp.
Upon Murdoch's death, his other children could challenge Lachlan's
power. Murdoch controls News Corp and Fox Corp through a Reno,
Nevada-based family trust that holds a roughly a 40% stake in voting
shares of each company. He also holds a small number of shares of
the companies outside the trust.
Each of Murdoch's four children from his first two marriages -
Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence -- has a stake in the trust.
His youngest daughters Chloe and Grace, from his third wife Wendi
Deng, do not have voting rights in the trust.
The transfer of News Corp and Fox Corp voting shares from Murdoch to
his four adult children could create a scenario in which three of
the children could out-vote a fourth, potentially setting up a
battle over the future of the companies, even as Lachlan Murdoch now
oversees Fox Corp. and News Corp.
Fox and News Corp have a dual-share system, with non-voting Class A
shares and voting Class B shares. The shares in Fox and News Corp
owned by Murdoch’s children through the trust are a combination of
both classes of shares.
Concerns about Murdoch's health have dogged him in recent years. In
2018, he suffered a serious back injury after he fell on his son
Lachlan's yacht, according to several employees.
Over the past year, Murdoch has started appearing back at Fox and
News Corp's offices in London and New York, employees say.
"It’s the end of the founder-mogul era," said former News Corp
executive Jonathan Miller, who worked alongside the elder Murdoch.
A generation of media titans, including Sumner Redstone, Ted Turner
and John Malone, shaped the modern industry, Miller said. Now, the
mantle has been passed from founders to executives who have risen
through the ranks.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/22/images/ads/current/rainbowgutter_sda_FHG_2023.png)
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York, Aditya Soni in Bengaluru and
Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Leela de
Kretzer in New York; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Saumyadeb
Chakrabarty and Nick Zieminski)
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