Rupert Murdoch announced in a memo sent to all staffers on Thursday morning that he is stepping down from his role as chairman and CEO of News Corp and chairman of Fox Corp.
“I am writing to let you all know that I have decided to transition to the role of Chairman Emeritus at Fox and News,” Murdoch, 92, wrote in his announcement. “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, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies.”
The memo, which was obtained by The Daily Beast, continued: “Neither excessive pride nor false humility are admirable qualities. But I am truly proud of what we have achieved collectively through the decades, and I owe much to my colleagues, whose contributions to our success have sometimes been unseen outside the company but are deeply appreciated by me.”
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Adding that both he and the “companies are in robust health,” Murdoch also assured staff that his son Lachlan “is absolutely committed to the cause” before taking a less-than-subtle swipe at Fox’s non-conservative media rivals.
“Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose,” Murdoch declared. “Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”
Murdoch railing about “peddling political narratives” may come across as more than a bit ironic to his critics, especially since Fox News has been largely seen as the de facto communications arm of the Republican Party since its launch in the late 1990s.
Additionally, the media mogul is stepping down just months after Fox settled a defamation lawsuit with voting software firm Dominion Voting Systems for a whopping $787.5 million. Dominion accused Fox and its executives of knowingly amplifying baseless election fraud conspiracies in order to boost sagging ratings following former President Donald Trump's loss in 2020.
In a separate statement, Lachlan congratulated his father on his lengthy media career, thanking him for “his vision and his pioneering spirit” as well as the “enduring legacy he leaves of the companies he founded.”
In the wake of the record-setting payout to Dominion, Rupert kicked top-rated primetime Fox News host Tucker Carlson to the curb, prompting a backlash among MAGA viewers that caused the conservative cable giant’s viewership to drop precipitously. Since then, the network has revamped its nighttime lineup with familiar faces, anchored by longtime Fox News star Sean Hannity.
Furthermore, a number of executives who were intimately involved with the network’s post-election coverage and subsequent Dominion lawsuit have also stepped aside, including Fox Corp. brand protection exec Raj Shah and chief legal officer Viet Dinh.
Fox Corp., along with the Murdochs individually, has also faced the wrath of shareholders and pension funds for opening Fox to defamation lawsuits, thus neglecting their fiduciary duty. Outside of the Dominion settlement, Fox faces a similar case from voting systems company Smartmatic as well as a defamation lawsuit from Ray Epps, a central figure in Jan. 6 conspiracy theories peddled by Carlson. It also recently settled a complaint from a former Fox News producer who alleged the company coerced her into giving false testimony in the Dominion case, along with subjecting her to a toxic work environment.
Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan pictured at a conference in 2015.
Mike Blake/ReutersThe legendary mogul finally fading into the background also comes less than a year after his power play to merge his global media empire into one large corporation failed. In the end, he could not convince investors and major stockholders to approve the merger of Fox Corp. and News Corp, which publishes The Wall Street Journal and several tabloids.
“Nonetheless, Fox Corp stockholders thought that News Corp’s legacy newspaper business—including the notorious London tabloid, The Sun, on which the empire was founded—would be a drag on the merged corporation’s profits, while News Corp shareholders were very sniffy about being in the same corporate bed with Fox News, which they considered toxic, and would similarly suffer a loss in market value,” The Daily Beast’s Clive Irving noted at the time of the merger failure.
On Fox News’ airwaves on Thursday morning, the tributes began immediately.
“Rupert Murdoch created all of this and so much more across America and the globe,” anchor Bill Hemmer said at the top of America’s Newsroom. “His life’s work has left an indelible imprint on the global media landscape. His contributions are both innumerable and extraordinary, and we thank him for letting us be a part of it all.”
While Fox News staffers who spoke to The Daily Beast noted that they didn’t know Murdoch’s retirement was coming, they added that it always seemed inevitable that it would occur sooner than later due to his advanced age. They also pointed out that they didn’t foresee any imminent changes on the horizon in how the network would operate.
At the same time, though, insiders expressed mild shock that Murdoch finally pulled the trigger—and that he went out with his barn-burning letter.
“Amazed he finally did it,” one former Fox News executive said, adding that Murdoch’s “combative tone was a bit of a surprise” and that Lachlan has “really big shoes to fill.”
Preston Padden, a former Fox Broadcasting executive who has been leading the charge to deny broadcast license renewals of local Fox stations over the company’s amplification of election lies, said that the announcement changed nothing.
“I wish Rupert continued good health,” Padden told The Daily Beast. “Given his statement that ‘I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,’ the fact that the Trust he controls has a controlling stock interest in Fox, the fact that his Son remains Chair and CEO and the fact that the same cadre of executives who knowingly and repeatedly presented false news remain, this announcement has zero impact on the FCC filings regarding the Fox broadcast licenses.”
Another former network employee worried that Fox News could be in a “worse” position under the Murdoch scion, noting that Lachlan had already revealed himself to be “feckless” when dealing with the network’s top stars.
“Now that he’s coming in at a time when the network is in a rudderless place, the stars will only get worse with their lies,” the ex-staffer said. “I would not be surprised if we see them get involved in another Dominion-like scandal with their lies because Lachlan will be too craven and cowardly to rein them in.”
In his memo on Thursday, meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch sought to reassure staff that he would still be involved in the “contest of ideas” at the companies he founded.
“I will be an active member of our community,” he said. “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. When I visit your countries and companies, you can expect to see me in the office late on a Friday afternoon.”
