Rupert Murdoch (b. 1931)

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Biography

Keith Rupert Murdoch is an Australian and American former business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in the United States, book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News. He was also the owner of Sky, 21st Century Fox, and the now-defunct News of the World. With a net worth of US$21.7 billion as of 2 March 2022, Murdoch is the 31st richest person in the United States and the 71st richest in the world according to Forbes magazine. Due to his extensive wealth and influence over media and politics, Murdoch has been described as an oligarch.

Timeline

The story of Rupert Murdoch, told in moments.

Legacy

Four marriages. Built the largest English-language media empire in history. His newspapers and channels shaped elections in the U.S., UK, and Australia. Stepped down as Fox Corporation chairman in 2023 at 92.

After shaping elections in three countries, do you see yourself as a kingmaker? Is stepping down at ninety-two retirement or exhaustion? What's the difference between a media empire and a democracy?

1931 Birth

Born Keith Rupert Murdoch in Melbourne, Australia. His father, Sir Keith Murdoch, was a war correspondent turned newspaper magnate. Rupert attended Geelong Grammar, then Oxford.

Did your father's war correspondent past shape your view of media's power? Was Oxford where you learned to think or to network? Were you always going to be a newspaper man?

1952 Event

Inherited two Adelaide newspapers after his father's death. He was 21. Within a decade he owned papers across Australia. His formula: bold headlines, scandal, populist anger.

What did inheriting newspapers at twenty-one teach you about responsibility? Was the formula -- scandal, populism, bold headlines -- instinct or strategy? Did you see yourself as giving people what they wanted or shaping what they wanted?

1969 Event

Bought the News of the World and The Sun in London. Turned The Sun into a tabloid. Introduced Page 3 girls. Circulation soared. The British establishment was horrified. Murdoch didn't care.

Did the British establishment's horror at Page 3 please you? Were you disrupting journalism or degrading it? What's the difference between populism and pandering?

1985 Event

Became a U.S. citizen to satisfy legal requirements for owning American television stations. Bought 20th Century Fox and six TV stations that formed the basis of the Fox network.

Was becoming a US citizen a sacrifice or just paperwork? Did you see the Fox network as a business or a cultural project? What drew you to television after newspapers?

1996 Event

Launched Fox News with Roger Ailes. The channel broke CNN's monopoly on cable news by targeting conservative viewers. Within six years it was the most-watched cable news network in America.

Did you know Fox News would reshape American politics? Was targeting conservative viewers a gap in the market or an ideology? Do you feel responsible for what Fox News became?

2011 Event

The phone-hacking scandal forced him to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World. His son James faced Parliament. Rupert was hit in the face with a shaving cream pie during testimony. His wife Wendi leapt to defend him.

Did the phone-hacking scandal genuinely surprise you? Was shutting down the News of the World painful after 168 years? What went through your mind when the pie hit your face?

In Their Own Words (14)

We're both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together

Murdoch, 92, announced his engagement to Ann Lesley Smith, 66 in a New York Post interview, as cited in "Rupert Murdoch announces engagement to Ann Lesley Smith" The Guardian (20 March 2023). The intended marriage, which would have been his fifth, was called off within a few weeks., 2023

The current American political debate is profound, whether about education or welfare or economic opportunity. It is crucial that conservatives play an active, forceful role in that debate, but that will not happen if President Trump stays focused on the past. The past is the past, and the country is now in a contest to define the future.

Rupert Murdoch Tells Trump to STFU About 2020 Vanity Fair (November 17, 2021), 2020

While it's impossible to be completely prepared for a downturn of this magnitude, we began priming ourselves for a weakening economy earlier last year. We have implemented strict cost cutting measures across all our operations. We have reduced headcount in individual businesses where appropriate and we've scaled back on capital expenditures. Even in plush times, we have never been a company that tolerates fat. So in times like these, we are better positioned to weather this cycle than our competitors. News Corporation F2Q09 (Qtr End 12/31/08) Earnings Call Transcript

About News Corp. 6.4 billion quarterly lost in 2008-09, 2008

They’ve started it. We’ve had bitter, personal attack on some of our people. They tried to destroy our credibility as a network. But it is only natural that the people can stand who were personally attacked and their children were personally attacked should fight back and I support them. I support my people completely. Countdown's Worst Person: Threats and Feuds Edition

Asked about feud between News Corp. with GE and MSNBC

Fuck Dacre. Publish.

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