Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is retiring from the news and entertainment conglomerate he began seven decades ago — serving now as chair of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp — and will become chairman emeritus of both companies.
Per The New York Times, Rupert’s son Lachlan will soon be the sole executive of both Fox and News Corp. According to The Wall Street Journal, which is part of Murdoch’s media empire, the 92-year-old will officially retire in November at the company’s annual meeting.
“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,” Rupert Murdoch wrote in a memo to staff, The Journal reported.
“Our companies are in robust health, as am I,” Murdoch added. “Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years.”
Murdoch started his business with an Australian newspaper, growing the company over the last 70 years to a business worth more than $11 billion.
Lachlan also issued a statement, saying, “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. 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.”
In the elder Murdoch’s Thursday memo, he also warned about “elites” working in the news industry for unseemly goals.
“Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class,” he said, according to The Jornal. “Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”
According to Forbes, Murdoch’s net worth is an estimated $17.3 billion.
Neither excessive pride nor false humility are admirable qualities,” the outgoing chairman added. “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.”
This is a developing news story please check back for updates.