In 2021, Murdoch purchased Beaverhead Ranch, a 500-square-mile cattle ranch in Montana, from Koch Industries. While still awaiting approval of his massive deal with Disney, Murdoch sought to increase 21st Century Fox’s stake in the U.K.-based Sky News. However, that transaction faced a roadblock from politicians and regulators over concerns about 21st Century Fox’s monopoly on the British news market, despite the company’s insistence that Sky News would retain editorial independence. In July 2016, Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News and the Fox Television Stations Group, resigned due to a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Fox television host Gretchen Carlson.
This building is a stone’s throw from Madison Square Park, and Rupert paid $57.25 million to complete the deal. In 1984, Murdoch bought Marc Rich’s interest in 20th Century Fox from Marvin Davis for $250 million. Rich had to sell due to the trade deals he’d made with Iran, which were sanctioned by the United States at the time. Murdoch then purchased all of the independent television stations owned by John Kluge, who was the richest man in the world in 1990.
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My outlook, energy, self-assurance and sense of social purpose were fashioned rupert murdoch net worth in the slightly mad meritocracy that is the newsroom, where you start each day with a blank canvas and relentlessly strive to capture as much original news as possible. Murdoch did the same at The Wall Street Journal newsroom in 2007 after winning control of Dow Jones. Fans were quick to point out a scene from the second episode of season four featured the Murdoch-esque Logan Roy addressing the ATN newsroom standing on boxes of printing paper. However, Vanity Fair reported that the engagement with Smith was called off two weeks later.
Immediately upon assuming control of the Sunday Mail and the News, Murdoch immersed himself in all aspects of the papers’ daily operations. He wrote headlines, redesigned page layouts, and labored in the typesetting and printing rooms. He quickly converted the News into a chronicle of crime, sex, and scandal, and while these changes were controversial, the paper’s circulation soared. In February 2023, Rupert bought a full-floor, 6,500-square-foot apartment on Central Park South that had been seeking $30 million.
“I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest, and reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas and advice,” Murdoch wrote. In February 2018, a Wired cover story revealed details of an ongoing feud between Murdoch and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The feud reportedly dated back to at least 2007, with accusations that Murdoch’s News Corp. had tried to ignite a scandal involving the presence of sexual predators on Facebook.
After setting up a new newspaper in Australia called “The Australian,” Rupert acquired a number of publications in the United Kingdom, such as “News of the World” and “The Sun,” both of which were struggling. Much as he had done in Australia, Murdoch transformed these papers into successful businesses. In 1973, he acquired the “San Antonio Express-News,” his first purchase of a US-based paper. A number of acquisitions followed, and he acquired the “New York Post” in 1976.
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FOX led the television industry for eight years, and in October 1996, News Corporation launched the FOX News Channel and established popular cable networks, such as FX and the National Geographic Channel. He married Anna Torv in 1967, and they had three children—Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James—before eventually divorcing in 1999. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Murdoch’s total net worth was estimated around $9 billion as of August 2023. Murdoch and his family ranked 99th on Forbes’ 2023 list of the world’s richest people with a total value of $17.1 billion. Rupert has four children, many of whom have gone on to have successful careers within Murdoch’s various business enterprises.
- He married Anna Torv in 1967, and they had three children—Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James—before eventually divorcing in 1999.
- In 2011, investigations determined that News of the World employees had systemically hacked into the phones of politicians, celebrities, and others in the news, including murder victims and their relatives, to produce exclusive features.
- He had previously listed the property on the open market for $35 million before offloading it to his son for $5 million less.
The end of his 32-year second marriage to Anna Torv, with whom he had three children, is reported to have set him back $1.7 billion, making it one of the most expensive divorces on record. In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Murdoch planned to buy a penthouse apartment in Hampshire House overlooking Central Park. But 14 months after the deal closed, News Corp had to write down the value of its $5.6 billion purchase by $2.8 billion, The Guardian reported.
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Later, in a 2016 meeting, Murdoch took Zuckerberg to task for changing Facebook’s news feed algorithm, giving the social platform the power to dramatically affect traffic for other sites. News Corp. reportedly threatened to retaliate via lobbying efforts and by launching an anti-Facebook campaign through its many outlets. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Murdoch acquired news outlets around the globe at a dizzying pace. In the United States, he bought the Chicago Sun-Times, the Village Voice, and New York magazine. In England, he acquired the eminently respectable Times and Sunday Times of London.
He was subsequently investigated by both the British government and the FBI. This controversy forced Murdoch to step down from his role as director of News International. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch announced Thursday he will step down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp., ending his reign as one of the wealthiest media moguls of all time. Lululemon’s controversial founder, to the second act of Epstein-tarnished billionaire Les Wexner, to the success of the power players behind brands like Aritzia, Aviator Nation and Skims. McEvoy previously worked on Forbes’ breaking news team and has written for outlets including CNN and Inc. magazine. She graduated from New York University, where she studied political science, economics and languages.
According to a securities filing, Murdoch worked from his home in Montana instead of Fox or News Corp. offices beginning in July 2022. Just over a year later on September 21, 2023, Murdoch announced in a company memo to employees that he would be stepping down as chairman of the board of both companies effective in November. Although he never could have imagined the power he would one day wield, this kind of influence was exactly what Murdoch sought as a young publisher building his empire. “Not raw power but the ability to influence at least the agenda of what was going on.” And after six decades working in the media, Murdoch has said that he couldn’t imagine his life any other way. “If you’re in the media, particularly newspapers, you are in the thick of all the interesting things that are going on in a community, and I can’t imagine any other life that one would want to dedicate oneself to,” he said. In 1990, he founded Star TV, a Hong Kong-based television broadcasting company.
The property, Beaverhead Ranch, spans more than 50 miles north to south across two counties. Two dozen homes on the property house a number of permanent ranch employees. The Murdoch family owns at least three other mega-properties—including another ranch—in the U.S. and Australia. In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion was reportedly expected to call Murdoch to publicly testify had the case gone to trial. One year later, he added to his New York real estate holdings and purchased a 6,850-square-foot quadruplex penthouse in the One Madison Building.
Murdoch had two more children, Grace and Chloe, with his third wife, Wendi Deng.
“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. In 1954, Murdoch acquired News Limited, an Australian public corporation and owner of the daily newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia. On September 21, 2023, Murdoch announced his plans to “transition” from his current positions at Fox and News Corp and take on the role of chairman emeritus, effective in November 2023. He also announced that his son Lachlan, whom he called a “passionate, principled leader,” would become the sole chairman of both companies. Murdoch has homes in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles and New York, among other properties. He has owned Cavan Station, an Australian ranch primarily for wool farming, for decades.
Additionally, after purchasing several prestigious American and British academic and literary publishing companies throughout the late 1980s, he consolidated them into HarperCollins that same year. After the deal, Rupert also became a 39% owner of the newly formed Fox Corporation. This mass media corporation owns several notable subsidiaries, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Fox News, Fox Broadcast Network, and The Times of London.
Beginning with a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, inherited from his father in 1952, Murdoch aggressively expanded his holdings through acquisitions and launches across multiple continents. His News Corporation grew to encompass newspapers, magazines, book publishers, film studios, and television networks. Notable assets included “The Times” and “The Sun” in the UK, “The Wall Street Journal” and “New York Post” in the US, and Fox News. Murdoch’s influence extended beyond media into politics, with his outlets often accused of shaping public opinion and electoral outcomes.