NEW YORK — The name Murdoch will still be a powerful one around the Fox News network.
It just won’t be Rupert.
Fox announced earlier this week that Rupert Murdoch was stepping down as the head of both Fox’s parent company and his News Corp. media empire.
Murdoch will chairman emeritus of both companies, while his son, Lachlan, steps in as the chairman at News Corp. Lachlan will also continue serving as CEO of Fox C will become News Corp. chairman and continue as chief executive officer of Fox Corp.
“On behalf of the FOX and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” Lachlan Murdoch said in a release posted to the Fox website. “We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”
Besides Fox News, Murdoch started the Fox broadcast network. With shows such as “The Simpsons,” Fox was the first network to successfully challenge ABC, CBS and NBC.It has been a rough year for Fox, which had to pay $787 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.
Stock in Fox Corp., while positive this year, began to decline early in 2022, due in part to lawsuits and investor anxiety over the loss of viewers to smaller media outlets.Murdoch vowed in a letter to employees that he would remain engaged at Fox.
“In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas,” Murdoch wrote, according to The Associated Press. “Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community. I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest.” Shares of News Corp. and Fox rose Thursday in early trading.
