The powerful media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch steps down as head of the US Fox Group and the publisher News Corp. back.The 92-year-old wanted to hand over the management to his son Lachlan, he announced, according to the TV channel Fox News. However, he will remain with the company as chairman emeritus, it is said.
“We are fortunate to be able to continue to count on his advice,” said Lachlan Murdoch in a statement from the company. His departing father wrote in a letter to the workforce: “In my new role, I will continue to be actively involved in the company.”
The 92-year-old’s retirement marks the end of a seven-decade career. Murdoch has created a media empire that stretches from Australia to the United States.
Media mogul on three continents
Born in 1931, Murdoch began building his global media empire at the age of 22, with a newspaper in his native Australia. With tabloids like “The Sun” he relied uncompromisingly on sensational journalism, and with channels like Fox News he later focused on political opinion-making, which is also seen as a pioneer for Donald Trump.
Caption: Lachlan Murdoch (left) with his father Rupert. (4/21/15) Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File
Murdoch had already expanded his media empire to the USA in the 1970s. In addition to the Fox channel group, the portfolio now also includes the newspapers “New York Post”, “The Sun” in Great Britain and the US financial newspaper “Wall Street Journal”.
Murdoch’s close ties to power and his ability to harness the political elite to his interests are legendary. “Republicans originally thought that Fox was working for us. Now we realize that we work for Fox,” said former US President George W. Bush’s speechwriter David Frum in a TV interview.