Billionaire Murdoch steps down as head of media empire after 7 decades

According to the announcement issued by Fox Corp and News Corp on September 21, Mr. Murdoch, 92 years old, will become honorary chairman of both corporations. His eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become the sole chairman of News Corp and continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Fox Corp, according to AP.

In a letter to staff first reported by The Wall Street Journal , Mr Murdoch wrote: "I have been involved with news and ideas every day of my working life, and that will not change. But the time has come for me to take on other roles."

Billionaire Rupert Murdoch

Mr Lachlan now appears set to become the media tycoon’s heir apparent. In the letter, Mr Murdoch called Mr Lachlan a “passionate and principled leader” who could take the company into the future.

“On behalf of the board of directors, the leadership teams of Fox and News Corp, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on an impressive 70-year career,” Mr Lachlan, 52, said in a statement.

“We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his unwavering determination and the lasting legacy he leaves behind for the companies he founded and the countless people he influenced,” Mr Lachlan said in tribute to his father.

In addition to Fox News, Mr. Murdoch also founded the Fox television network, the first network to successfully challenge the "Big 3" (the 3 biggest names) of American television including ABC, CBS and NBC. He is also the owner of two newspapers The Wall Street Journal and New York Post.

The billionaire is seen as a force in the conservative camp in the US, where Fox News has had a profound influence on television and US national politics since its inception in 1996.

His resignation comes five months after Fox paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit with voting equipment company Dominion. Dominion accused Fox of spreading false claims that it was involved in a conspiracy to “steal” the 2020 US presidential election.

Fox still faces a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Smartmatic, a global election technology company, which also accuses Fox of allowing its journalists and guests to spread false information about the company’s role in the 2020 election.

In a letter to staff, Mr Murdoch wrote: "Our companies are in good health, as am I."

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