The 92-year-old Australian business magnate Rupert Murdoch will take on the role of chairman emeritus of Fox Corp and News Corp, handing his position as chair to his son Lachlan.
ADVERTISEMENTRupert Murdoch is stepping down as chair of Fox Corp and News Corp, the central pillars of his right-leaning global media empire.
Fox says the 92-year-old Australian business magnate will take on the role of chairman emeritus of both companies and hand his post to his son Lachlan.
In a letter to staff that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Murdoch said he would remain engaged with the Fox and News Corps communities on a daily basis.
"For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change. But the time is right for me to take on different roles."
“We are grateful that he will serve as chairman emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies,” Lachlan Murdoch said.
The announcement didn't clarify why he is retiring now, but it comes after a number of setbacks for the corporations in recent years.
Murdoch's creation of Fox News made him a force in US politics. Besides Fox News, Murdoch started the Fox broadcast network, the first to successfully challenge the Big Three of ABC, CBS and NBC, with shows like “The Simpsons.”
But 2023 has been a rough year for Fox, which was forced to pay €738 million to settle a defamation lawsuit related to its coverage of false claims following the 2020 presidential election. Shortly after, Fox fired its most popular personality, Tucker Carlson.
He is the owner of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
For decades, Murdoch was one of the most powerful media figures in Britain, a market he entered after buying the tabloid News of the World in 1969.
