Owner and longtime boss Rupert Murdoch is quitting as chief of Fox and News Corp., it was announced Thursday morning.
Murdoch’s son Lachlan will take over his position as chairman in November. News Corp. is the parent company of Fox News and numerous other media holdings. Murdoch will become chairman emeritus of both companies.
“For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,” Murdoch wrote in a memo that was shared with Fox News employees. “But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams.”
Murdoch praised his son as “a passionate, principled leader.”
The 92-year-old media mogul made his fortune first in the newspaper business, which he entered in the 1950s. He purchased 20th Century Fox in 1985 for $600 million, and launched Fox News Channel in 1996. Fox News quickly took over as the number one cable news channel.
Murdoch’s memo read —
I am writing to let you all know that I have decided to transition to the role of Chairman Emeritus at Fox and News. 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. 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.
Whether the truck drivers distributing our papers, the cleaners who toil when we have left the office, the assistants who support us or the skilled operators behind the cameras or the computer code, we would be less successful and have less positive impact on society without your day-after-day dedication. Our companies are in robust health, as am I. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years – I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them.
Our companies are in robust health, as am I. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years — I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them. But the battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense.
My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpos. 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.
In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas. 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, 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.
Lachlan thanked his father for his decades of work in a statement.
“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’s statement said.
“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,” he said.
The Horn editorial team