Passing on the legacy within a blood relationship is not a new deal in the corporate world. While a person builds an empire of their own, they often pass it to their biological heir.
The same happened with Fox Corp and News Corp, as Rupert Murdoch decided to retire and pass on the legacy to his eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch.
Taking on the father’s vast media empire might be a difficult task for the new head, but his ascension was guaranteed over the past few years.
Following Rupert Murdoch’s exit from the leadership of his media empire, his son Lachlan Murdoch has become the new head of FOX. The decision to become the new boss came after considering his control over several Fox TV franchises in the US and the New York Post.
Who Is Lachlan Murdoch?
The 52-year-old British-American businessman is one of three children Rupert Murdoch had with his second wife, Anna Maria dePeyster, who was from the same field, a Scottish journalist and novelist. The London-born boy completed his early education at prestigious American schools and graduated from Princeton University in 1994.
Lachlan entered the family business and later spent three years in Australia, ascending the corporate ladder to become chairman of News Ltd. In 1999, he rose to deputy chief operating officer at News Corp, overseeing the U.S. television stations group and publishing assets, including the New York Post. Following his growth, he was seen as his father’s successor.
Right after his impressive career, he shockingly resigned in 2005, which created a lot of questions as to who would succeed Rupert Murdoch at the helm of the media empire that he had assembled from a single newspaper in Australia.
On the other hand, Lachlan founded Illyria Pty, an Australian private investment firm that poured money into a range of media and marketing companies, whose acquisitions included a network of Australian radio stations.
When Did Lachlan Murdoch Return?
The investment firm was not a successful venture which made him return to the family business as his previous company took a huge loss on an Australian TV network. In 2014, Lachlan returned to a crisis point in the wake of the phone hacking scandal and his father’s divorce from Wendi Deng.
Lachlan Murdoch shared the title of co-chairman of 21st Century Fox with his brother, James. However, with the sale of Fox’s entertainment assets to Walt Disney in 2019, in a whooping $71-billion transaction.
However, brother James Murdoch left Fox with the close of the Disney transaction. Lachlan became the chief executive of Fox Corp in 2019 and has presided over the media properties during the seismic change in the industry.
How Did Lachlan Murdoch Became The New Head Of FOX?
It was not something that came as a surprise. After being speculated for many years, the eldest son, Lachlan, brought an end to years of speculation over his desired plan for succession. The 52-year-old Businessman made his way after proving his worth in the industry. Being the “prodigal son,” he has shown himself to be a loyal fighter.
When it comes to following in his 92-year-old Australian billionaire father’s controversial footsteps, Lachlan is also the most politically similar.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, his decision-making at Fox News helped push the network toward anti-vaccine information, and election fraud conspiracies also created some rift between him and then president of the USA, Donald Trump.
With Rupert Murdoch’s decision to hand the keys of his media empire to the prodigal son, it would be interesting to see how Lachlan Murdoch shapes the legacy.
Let us know in the comments about his ideology and his way of handling the company moving forward.
