Rupert Murdoch, 92, slams the rise of antisemitism, the ‘intolerant elite’ and weighs in on future of artificial intelligence as he officially hands reins of his media empire to son Lachlan, 52,

• Rupert Murdoch has handed over the reins of News Corp to son Lachlan, speaking about a variety of issues during a meeting earlier this week  
• The Australian-born media mogul will remain as chairman emeritus at the company, while his son Lachlan will be the company’s chair  
• Murdoch, 92, had announced in September that he would stepping down as chairman of both Fox News and NewsCorp

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has slammed the ‘intolerant elite’  and antisemitism and weighed in on AI and imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as he officially handed the reins of his empire to his son Lachlan. 

The 92-year-old spoke during News Corporation annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, saluting his son, 52, as the right man to lead the company forward. 

Murdoch said: ‘Lachlan is a principled leader, and a believer in the social purpose of journalism. I hope to continue an active role in the company.

The Australian-born mogul will remain as chairman emeritus at News Corp, adding that Lachlan will now be the company’s ‘sole chair’. 

Rupert Murdoch (pictured in London in June) will be taking on a new role of Chairman Emeritus, with his son Lachlan becoming the sole chairman of both of Fox and News Corp

Lachlan and wife Sarah attend the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020

Murdoch added: ‘There is no doubt that we should all be concerned about the suppression of debate by an intolerant elite who regard differing opinions as anathema.

‘We are blessed to live in a country where dreams are not yet subject to regulation.’

In his brief remarks at the shareholders’ meeting, Murdoch voiced concern about ‘the rise of virulent anti-Semitism’ after the ‘barbaric’ October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. 

He also highlighted the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who he said ‘remains unfairly imprisoned in Russia for simply doing his job,’ and thanked those working to secure the journalist’s release. 

The journalist was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg. He has been held in jail since on espionage charges.

Murdoch said Lachlan had a similar sense of purpose as Sir Keith Murdoch, Rupert’s father and Lachlan’s grandfather, and the media icon that formed the foundation of the family’s global legacy.

‘Like my father, I believe that humanity has a high destiny, and Lachlan certainly shares that belief,’ Murdoch added. ‘That sense of destiny is not just a blessing but a responsibility.’

‘My life has certainly been fortunate,’ he said. ‘We are blessed to live in a country where dreams are not yet subject to regulation. 

‘There are so many inspiring stories around us of those who have created much social good from humble beginnings.’

Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan attend the first day of the annual Allen and Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 8, 2015

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch poses for a photograph with his sons Lachlan, left, and James, right. He has six children and has been married four times

The New York Post also reported that he weighed in on the ‘opportunities and challenges’ presented by Artificial Intelligence. 

Murdoch added: ‘Our digital development has enabled us to expand the delivery of news, analysis, books and real estate intelligence. In an era of generative AI, those businesses will surely grow.’

The media mogul had announced that he was stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp in September after 70 years in the industry. 

Lachlan is now the head of the empire that has made the Murdoch’s worth an estimated $21.7billion.

There has long been speculation about which of his four older children — Prue, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James, would take over the legacy spanning from Australia to the US and UK.

This power struggle was the inspiration for the hit HBO drama Succession, with eventual winner Lachlan reportedly even accusing his older brother James, once the heir apparent, of leaking stories about the family to the show’s writers.

Scottish actor Brian Cox played foul-mouthed global media tycoon and family patriarch Logan Roy, whose children were vying for control of their father’s company. 

Rupert Murdoch poses, beside a display rack of periodicals he owns in 1985

Unlike the TV show which saw none of the children succeed, the real-life Murdoch drama has picked Lachlan to take the top job. 

James Murdoch was reportedly ‘iced out’ of the Murdoch family reunion on the Amalfi Coast over the summer. 

He quit the board of the family media in 2020, citing ‘disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions’ – viewed as an attack on Lachlan, who runs Fox News. 

Murdoch launched his media career in 1954 by taking control of Australian publisher News Limited, which was previously run by his father Sir Keith Murdoch. 

The group rapidly expanded internationally, which included a deal to the News of the World and The Sun in the UK in 1969. 

The international media empire being taken over by Lachlan Murdoch 

Rupert Murdoch’s son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become the sole chairman of News Corp and continue as the chair and CEO of Fox.

There are some of the companies and publications he will run.

UNITED STATES 

• Fox Corporation including Fox News
• New York Post
• The Wall Street Journal
• TMZ

UNITED KINGDOM 

• The Sun
• The Times
• The Sunday Times

AUSTRALIA

• The Australian
• The Daily Telegraph
• The Courier-Mail 
• Herald Sun 
• news.com.au

In 1986, he launched the Fox Broadcasting company in the US and started the Fox News station ten years later. It is now the most popular news network in the US.

While Murdoch never ran for political office, politicians in the United States and Britain anxiously sought his approval, viewing it as a passage to power.

Fox News Channel has profoundly influenced television and the nation’s politics since its start in 1996, making Murdoch a hero to some and pariah to others. 

The 24-hour network converted the power and energy of political talk radio to television. Within six years, it outrated CNN and MSNBC.

But it has been a rough year for Fox, which was forced 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 on a direct order from Murdoch. 

Mr Murdoch, who had, according to court papers, described the claims as ‘really crazy’, was spared having to give evidence in court after Fox agreed to pay Dominion 787.5 million dollars in a last-ditch settlement. 

Murdoch controls News Corp and Fox Corp through a Reno, Nevada-based family trust that holds a roughly a 40% stake in voting shares of each company. 

He also holds a small amount of shares of the companies outside of the trust.

Each of Murdoch’s four adult children has a stake in the trust. However, his youngest daughters Chloe and Grace, from his third wife Wendi Deng, do not have voting rights in the trust.

The transfer of News Corp and Fox Corp voting shares from Murdoch to his four adult children could create a scenario in which three of the children could out-vote a third, potentially setting up a battle over the future of the companies, even as Lachlan Murdoch now oversees Fox Corp. and News Corp.

Fox and News Corp have a dual-share system, with non-voting Class A shares and voting Class B shares. 

The shares in Fox and News Corp owned by Murdoch’s children through the trust are a combination of both classes of shares.

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