Rupert Murdoch | |
|---|---|
 Murdoch in 2012 | |
| Born | Keith Rupert Murdoch 11 March 1931 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Citizenship |
|
| Education | Worcester College, Oxford (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1952−2023 |
| Title |
|
| Board member of |
|
| Spouses | Patricia Booker
(m. 1956; div. 1967)Elena Zhukova (m. 2024) |
| Children | 6, including Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James |
| Parents | |
| Family | Murdoch family |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of Australia (1984) |
| Notes | |
| |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
|---|
 |
Keith Rupert Murdoch AC KCSG (/ˈmɜːrdɒk/ MUR-dok; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate, investor, oligarch, and media proprietor.[1][2] Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the UK (The Sun and The Times), in Australia (The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, and The Australian), in the US (The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post), book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News (through the Fox Corporation). He was also the owner of Sky (until 2018), 21st Century Fox (until 2019), and the now-defunct News of the World. With a net worth of US$21.7 billion as of 2 March 2022,[update] Murdoch is the 31st richest person in the United States and the 71st richest in the world according to Forbes magazine.[3]
After his father Keith Murdoch died in 1952, Murdoch took over the running of The News, a small Adelaide newspaper owned by his father. In the 1950s and 1960s, Murdoch acquired a number of newspapers in Australia and New Zealand before expanding into the United Kingdom in 1969, taking over the News of the World, followed closely by The Sun. In 1974, Murdoch moved to New York City, to expand into the US market; however, he retained interests in Australia and the UK. In 1981, Murdoch bought The Times, his first British broadsheet, and, in 1985, became a naturalized US citizen, giving up his Australian citizenship, to satisfy the legal requirement for US television network ownership.[4] In 1986, keen to adopt newer electronic publishing technologies, Murdoch consolidated his UK printing operations in London, causing bitter industrial disputes. His holding company News Corporation acquired Twentieth Century Fox (1985), HarperCollins (1989),[5] and The Wall Street Journal (2007). Murdoch formed the British broadcaster BSkyB in 1990 and, during the 1990s, expanded into Asian networks and South American television. By 2000, Murdoch's News Corporation owned more than 800 companies in more than 50 countries, with a net worth of more than $5 billion.[6]
In July 2011, Murdoch faced allegations that his companies, including the News of the World, owned by News Corporation, had been regularly hacking the phones of celebrities, royalty, and public citizens. Murdoch faced police and government investigations into bribery and corruption by the British government and FBI investigations in the US.[7][8] On 21 July 2012, Murdoch resigned as a director of News International.[9][10] In September 2023, Murdoch announced he would be stepping down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp.[11]
Many of Murdoch's papers and television channels have been accused of biased and misleading coverage to support his business interests[12][13][14] and political allies,[15][16][17] and some have linked his influence with major political developments in the UK, US, and Australia.[15][18][19]
As of September 2024[update], the Murdoch family is involved in a court case in the US in which his three children Elisabeth, Prudence, and James are challenging their father's bid to amend the family trust to ensure that his eldest son, Lachlan, retains control of News Corp and Fox Corp, rather than the trust benefiting all of his six children, as is specified in its "irrevocable" terms.[20]
- ^ "10 Most Influential Media Moguls in History". Business Pundit. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ Mahler, Jonathan (3 April 2019). "How Rupert Murdoch's empire of influence remade the world". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "#31 Rupert Murdoch & family". Forbes. 2 March 2022. ISSN 0015-6914. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Witzelwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Rupert Murdoch faces authors' revolt". BBC. 1 March 1998. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ Rupert Murdoch: His Fox News legacy is one of lies, with little accountability, and political power that rose from the belief in his power − 3 essential reads, The Conversation, September 21, 2023
- ^ "Phone hacking: David Cameron announces terms of phone-hacking inquiry". The Telegraph. London. 13 July 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ Ed Pilkington in New York, Andrew Gumbel and agencies (14 July 2011). "FBI to investigate News Corporation over 9/11 hacking allegations". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Rupert Murdoch resigns as News International director". BBC News. London. 21 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ^ Burns, John F.; Somaiya, Ravi (23 July 2012). "Murdoch Resigns From His British Papers' Boards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
- ^ Rizzo, Lillian (21 September 2023). "Rupert Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corp". CNBC. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- ^ Davies, Anne (21 September 2018). "Follow the money: how News Corp wields power to defend its interests". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Shafer, Jack (8 May 2007). "Eight more reasons to distrust Rupert Murdoch". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Barron, James; Robertson, Campbell (19 May 2007). "Page Six, Staple of Gossip, Reports on Its Own Tale". The New York Times. eISSN 1553-8095. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2007.
The harshest criticism of Mr. Murdoch from within Dow Jones has been that he is willing to contort his coverage of the news to suit his business needs, in particular that he has blocked reporting unflattering to the government of China. He has invested heavily in satellite television there and wants to remain in Beijing's favor.
- ^ a b Stack, Liam (3 April 2019). "6 Takeaways From The Times's Investigation Into Rupert Murdoch and His Family". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
Fox News has long exerted a gravitational pull on the Republican Party in the United States, where it most recently amplified the nativist revolt that has fueled the rise of the far right and the election of President Trump. Mr. Murdoch's newspaper The Sun spent years demonizing the European Union to its readers in Britain, where it helped lead the Brexit campaign that persuaded a slim majority of voters in a 2016 referendum to endorse pulling out of the bloc. Political havoc has reigned in Britain ever since. And in Australia, where his hold over the media is most extensive, Mr. Murdoch's outlets pushed for the repeal of the country's carbon tax and helped topple a series of prime ministers whose agenda he disliked, including Malcolm Turnbull last year.
- ^ Alcorn, Gay (10 May 2019). "Australia's Murdoch moment: has News Corp finally gone too far?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Page, Bruce (27 October 2011). The Murdoch Archipelago. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-84983-780-4. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ Thomas, James (7 May 2007). Popular Newspapers, the Labour Party and British Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-77373-1.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Reaganwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
clarke2024was invoked but never defined (see the help page).