Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced Thursday that he is stepping down as the chairman of Fox and News Corp. and appointing his eldest son, Lachlan, as his successor.
“For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,” Murdoch said in a note to staff. “But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies.”
Murdoch, 92, is widely credited as one of the most influential media figures of the 20th century. His career began with the acquisition of several Australian newspaper chains in the 1950’s. He went on to add a number of U.K. tabloids to his growing empire and, eventually, entered the film business with the purchase of Twentieth Century Fox in 1986. He then became a major player in American political media when he launched Fox News in 1996 as a competitor to CNN.
Lachlan, who currently serves as Fox Corp. CEO, congratulated his father on an influential career in a statement released Thursday.
“On behalf of the FOX and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” Lachlan said. “We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”
The elder Murdoch’s departure comes at a transition point for Fox Corp., which sold its entertainment divisions to Disney in 2019 for $71 billion in an effort to concentrate focus on live news and sports. The announcement also comes on the heels of Fox News’ unprecedented legal defeat to Dominion Voting Systems, which successfully sued the news network for defamation over its endorsement of former president Trump’s lies about the outcome of the 2020 election. The resulting $787 million payout was the largest defamation settlement in U.S. history.
While he’ll be stepping away from day-to-day management, Rupert Murdoch will continue serving as chairman emeritus of Fox and News Corp.