Rupert Murdoch

Can anyone with even the most nominal understanding of these businesses argue that having one company own the ESPN channel group along with the Fox regional sports channels would be good for consumers and competition?

Rather than the foundation of a bold new venture, in his call with analysts yesterday Rupert Murdoch talked about “New Fox” as if it would be a nice annuity for shareholders. He and his sons could surprise me by marshalling their great wealth and launching a new offensive on the media status quo, but I’m not betting on it.

The 86-year-old media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his family would emerge as the single largest individual shareholders in Disney once the proposed $66 billion deal for 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets closes. Only the mutual fund Vanguard would have more significant holdings in the Burbank media giant. The Murdochs stand to receive nearly 88 million Disney shares in the all-stock deal, based on the number of Fox shares he and his family trust reported in regulatory filings.

Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch says if his post-divestiture company adds more stations, “it will give us greater strength in getting clearances. We will be in a mood to expand and do new things. And we will have the ability.”

If the media reports are to believed, Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan, who are top executives at his companies, have decided that the original content business has gotten too expensive for them. With Netflix planning to spend $8 billion in 2018 on original programming, Amazon.com’s $4.5 billion spending plan, and Apple’s $1 billion budget, it’s easy to understand their misgivings, particularly given the underperformance of 20th Century Fox in both TV production and at the box office this year.

A shareholder proposal calling for 21st Century Fox Inc to do away with its dual-class share structure may inflict a symbolic black eye on the media company’s founder Rupert Murdoch and his family at its annual meeting on Wednesday.

Rupert Murdoch is one of the most driven moguls in media, defying the odds for more than a half-century to build a global media empire from a small newspaper in Australia. So many people were startled to learn the 86-year-old tycoon and his sons appear willing to sell some of their prized 21st Century Fox media assets.

Rupert Murdoch telephoned AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months and talked about cable network CNN, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. According to one of the sources, the 86-year-old executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox offered to buy CNN in both conversations. Another source said Murdoch had “zero interest” in owning CNN.

Everyone knows the president hates CNN — but Trump’s Fox News ally also has multiple bones to pick with the proposed deal.

The annual compensation for all three of 21st Century Fox’s Murdochs — Rupert, Lachlan and James — fell in the most recent fiscal year, according to a company SEC filing. Rupert Murdoch’s compensation as executive co-chairman dipped from $34.6 million in FY 2016 to $29.3 million. His son Lachlan, also executive co-chairman, made $20.6 million, down from $23.7 million. CEO James dipped from $26.4 million to $20.3 million.

At a recent dinner at the White House with Jared Kushner and John Kelly, before President Trump decamped for a working vacation at his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J., the president listened while one of the guests, Rupert Murdoch, a founder of Fox News, said Steve Bannon had to go. Trump offered little pushback, according to a person familiar with the conversation, and vented his frustrations about Bannon. Murdoch is close to Kushner, who has been in open warfare with Bannon since the spring.

Fox News Channel unveiled plans for a new centralized studio as well as the hiring of additional journalists and content creators, a sign the 21st Century Fox-owned outlet is working to move forward after several weeks of tumult. During a company-wide address to staffers Wednesday, 21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch described plans for a centralized newsroom slated for completion in 2018. The new facility will be designed to spark communication among employer teams devoted to programming, news and digital.

Rupert Murdoch and his sons have spent nearly a year trying to clean up the sexual harassment controversies at Fox News. Now comes the hard part.

The Trump era has opened with the promise of a White House foothold for media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch has told close associates that the nation’s 45th president calls to confer frequently — as often as multiple times a week — and that he has visited the White House to meet with Trump more than once.

News Corp. paid executive chairman Rupert Murdoch $5.3 million in 2015, according to SEC filings made Wednesday by the company that houses the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins as well as UK newspaper assets and cable networks like Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia.

21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch saw his annual compensation rise almost 25% compared with fiscal-year 2015, with a total package of $34.6 million. He made $27.9 million in 2015, when he also was CEO. His son James Murdoch, in his first year as the new CEO, was at $26.4 million. That’s a big bump from a year ago’s $15.1 million.

Now that Roger Ailes is out at Fox News Channel, what’s life like at the No. 1 cable news network? Well, there’s a lot of Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp. boss who took over after Ailes was forced out last month following a sexual harassment scandal. However, major strategic decisions are being kicked down the road until after the November election.

Rupert Murdoch as the network’s interim chief after Roger Ailes’s ouster is a smart move, but Murdoch’s sons may have a hand in the direction of the empire.

Now that Roger Ailes has stepped down as head of Fox News, the television news industry is bracing for a seismic shift. But the impact on the nation’s political discourse may be just as significant. Without Ailes guiding the network, conservatives and Republican politicians are left wondering whether the talk might soften under new leadership.

Fox News is heading into a general election campaign in its customary spot at the top of the ratings, but without the man who sets its editorial tone every day. For now, Rupert Murdoch will fill the spot left vacant by Ailes departure. “I am personally committed to ensuring that Fox News remains a distinctive, powerful voice,” Murdoch says. “Our nation needs a robust Fox News to resonate from every corner of the country,”

Though Rupert Murdoch has stepped in to run Fox News in the interim, the search is on for a permanent replacement for Roger Ailes. But Murdoch, the 85-year-old executive chairman of 21st Century Fox who hired Ailes to invent Fox News two decades ago, is no long-term solution, and Ailes groomed no obvious successor.Among the names thought to be in the mix: current Fox managers Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz and Michael Clemente, as well as The New York Post‘s Jesse Angelo.

Rupert Murdoch, the 85-year-old media mogul who started Fox News with Ailes, will assume the role of chairman and chief executive of Fox News and Fox Business Network.In a statement, Murdoch praised Ailes, 76, and his “remarkable contribution” to the company, without making mention of the sexual harassment scandal that felled him.

The fall of Fox News chief Roger Ailes likely marks the end of the Rupert Murdoch era at 21st Century Fox. “The ouster of Ailes, a sorry PR capitulation in [Rupert] Murdoch’s view, is not just an abrupt end to Ailes’ career at 21st Century Fox, but, in a way that’s hard to miss, rather a Murdoch coda,” according to The Hollywood Reporter‘s Michael Wolff.

Last week’s article in New York magazine saying that Fox News Channel leader Roger Ailes “has become less visible” to its anchors and producers on a day-to-day basis, drew this response from News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch: “Oh, it’s bullshit. Absolutely. I’ve got every confidence in Roger, you know? His health is fine. It’s true he had a little problem with his back for awhile, but otherwise, he’s micromanaging the place just as much as ever.”

According to four high-placed Fox sources, Murdoch is upping his presence at Fox while Roger Ailes has become less visible to anchors and producers, signaling a shift that marks a new chapter in the network’s history. The most visible change is that, since June, Murdoch has been attending Ailes’s daily executive meeting held on the second floor of Fox headquarters.

An email to staff today addressed reports that the media giant would be bought by a Wall Street firm and that the Los Angeles Times would be bought by philanthropist Eli Broad. “Tribune Publishing remains committed to its strategy and transformation plan and is not engaged in discussions or a process to sell the company,” the memo says.

News Corp. President Rupert Murdoch was praising Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and his wife on Twitter Wednesday evening when he wrote: “Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?”

Effective July 1, Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch become executive co-chairmen; Chase Carey named executive vice chairman; and James Murdoch is the new chief executive officer. The moves follow Rupert Murdoch’s announcement last week that he was stepping down as CEO.

Sons James and Lachlan are to take over management of Fox. But will they in fact? Is this really a succession plan? And where will Chase Carey land when he exits?

Rupert Murdoch, the 84-year-old chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of 21st Century Fox, is preparing to step down as CEO of the media giant and hand that title to his son James, according to numerous sources close to the Murdoch family. As part of the management reordering at Fox, its COO, Chase Carey, will step down from that role and take on a yet undefined role as an adviser at the company.

Rupert Murdoch can breath a large sigh of relief at the dissipation of a major legal threat hanging over his corporate empire. In a filing with federal securities regulators, his companies have disclosed that the U.S. Justice Department has decided not to prosecute them for possible violations of U.S. federal law. The federal investigation stemmed from the phone hacking scandal that consumed his British tabloids. A prosecution could have complicated the ability of 21st Century Fox to maintain control of its 28 U.S. television stations.

Leading pay TV operator Sky, previously known as BSkyB, has finally completed its acquisition of Sky Italia and majority interest in Sky Deutschland to create a European TV giant in a deal worth nearly $11 billion. The announcement may lead the way, indirectly, for major shareholder Rupert Murdoch to make a renewed bid for Time Warner, should he decide to divest his 39% stake in Sky to fund such a deal.

The $9.1 billion sale of 21st Century Fox’s Italian and German units could have a wider impact on the media industry, giving Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox a cash influx to potentially revive its attempt to buy Time Warner.

21st Century Fox, the media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, made an $80 billion takeover bid in recent weeks for Time Warner but was rebuffed, say people briefed on the matter.