What's Next For Fox and News Corp?

Rupert Murdoch will step down as chair of Fox and News Corp in November and serve as chairman emeritus of each.

His eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will transition from co-chair to sole chair of News Corp and will continue as Fox’s executive chair and CEO, the companies said. 

Reuters reports the 92-year-old media baron’s exit comes at a key moment for both Fox, on guard against cable cord-cutting and the growth of streaming, and News Corp, which is seeking digital growth amid a fierce battle for subscribers and online-ad dollars. Starting with one newspaper in Australia seven decades ago, the senior Murdoch built a media empire that revolutionized news and entertainment and made him one of the world’s most influential and controversial tycoons. He bought the WSJ’s parent, Dow Jones, in 2007.

 Lachlan Murdoch, eldest son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, was named sole chairman of News Corp and will continue as chair and chief executive of Fox Corp, the companies said on Thursday, settling for now the issue of succession in one of the world’s most powerful media empires.

The younger Murdoch will preside over influential news brands such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and the Sun – in Australia, the United States and UK – as well as Fox Sports, Fox Entertainment and others.

Lachlan Murdoch

Lachlan Murdoch, 52, is the third-oldest of Rupert Murdoch’s six children. Born in London to Murdoch and his second wife, Anna, he grew up steeped in the media business. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp’s “Dynasties” program, he said that every morning, before catching the school bus, he and his siblings would read the morning papers - The New York Post, The New York Times, the Daily News and the Wall Street Journal - with his father flagging stories of interest, ordering: “Read that.”

A rivalry between Lachlan and his younger brother, James, played out from an early age, where even family Monopoly games “were intense and everybody was prepared to cheat,” according to one published account.

The sale of Fox’s entertainment assets to Walt Disney in 2019, in a $71-billion transaction, shrank the size of the Murdochs’ once-vast media holdings. The newly constituted Fox was reduced to a handful of assets, including the Fox broadcast network, Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox Business, with Lachlan Murdoch serving as its executive chair and chief executive officer.

Brother James Murdoch left Fox with the close of the Disney transaction.