Rupert Murdoch intends to retire from the boards of Fox and News Corporation

Rupert Murdoch will retire from the board of Fox and News Corporation, making his son Lachlan the sole executive in charge of the powerful global media empire he built from a small local newspaper in Australia 70 years ago, the companies announced Thursday morning.

The companies said the elder Murdoch would become honorary chairman of the companies.

Mr. Murdoch, 92, has shown no intention of stepping down or even slowing down — including after he named Lachlan as the operating heir to his business empire in 2019, when he sold his vast entertainment holdings to Walt Disney Co.

Lachlan Murdoch (52 years old) said in a company statement that even now, while in his honorary position, he will continue to provide advice. The elder Mr. Murdoch indicated in a statement to staff that he intends to be active in providing this counsel.

“We have every reason to be optimistic about the years ahead — I certainly am, and I plan to be here to share in them,” he wrote. “When I visit your countries and companies, you can expect to see me in the office late on Friday afternoon.”

But the announcement has the potential to be historic, marking at least the official end to an active career during which Mr. Murdoch built the most important and politically influential media empire on the planet. His companies, imbued with a kind of right-wing populism, have gained the power to shape, and sometimes make or break, presidents and prime ministers.

He built that empire across three continents, helping to change mores and tastes in journalism, politics, and popular culture throughout the English-speaking world. Using your hacker sense, act with a desire to move fast and break things – before it becomes popular.

Those tactics have also sparked legal troubles and a steady stream of condemnation from critics and even former allies, especially after his Fox News stars embraced former President Donald J. Trump’s lies in the 2020 election — leading to a $787.5 million settlement with the company at the center. Of much of it, the Dominion vote.

Lachlan Murdoch, although he had a different look than his father – with tattoos and trademark leather shoes – has so far represented the continuity of the family business. Although it has taken a more aggressive stance in entering the streaming space – taking on ad-supported entertainment Tubi streaming service in 2020 Which has since gained its value – it has maintained the status of a more conservative corporate outlet.

He was in his current position overseeing Fox News in 2020 and was initially supportive of the network’s far-right leader Tucker Carlson. Although he was also credited within the company with forcing Mr. Carlson out of the Fox lineup after the Dominion settlement in the spring, there is no indication that the younger Mr. Murdoch will change the network’s overall course and hard-right approach in the run-up to the order. Onward to another presidential campaign in which Mr. Trump may be at the head of the Republican ticket.

So far, Lachlan Murdoch has not stepped forward in any aggressive way to be the face of the company as his father was, and the political and media world will be watching closely to see if he takes retirement as an opportunity to do so. So.

There was no event that precipitated Murdoch’s declaration of seniority, other than the obvious fact that even the healthiest 92-year-old is in his twilight years.

It has long been said among those who know Murdoch that he would prefer to retire while still seen as smart and energetic — he was on Fox this week — rather than a diminished figure.

But as he announced his retirement, Mr. Murdoch was also working to consolidate the company under his handpicked business heir ahead of a looming family battle for control of the empire after Mr. Murdoch’s eventual death.

Under the terms of the trust that controls the family’s stake in the empire, each of Mr Murdoch’s four eldest children – Lachlan Murdoch, Elizabeth Murdoch, James Murdoch and Prudence Murdoch – will each have an equal vote on his future after his death; Until then, Mr Murdoch retains the controlling voice.

Rupert Murdoch’s retirement, in a sense, formalizes the arrangement he had already put in place after the sale of Disney, which made Lachlan the CEO in charge of the day-to-day business of the two companies at the heart of the Murdoch empire – Fox Corporation and News Corporation.

It is worth noting that the younger Murdoch’s titles – chairman and chief executive – remain virtually unchanged, except for the minor change of losing the “partner” he once shared with his father, who held similar titles until Thursday morning.

Mr Murdoch’s move to appoint Lachlan as his successor was followed by a row with his younger son James, who leans further to the left than his father and brother and has been an advocate, for example, of a softer, more hawkish policy. Fox News transcript.

He and his wife, Katherine, have criticized climate change denial in the family media, and James appeared to be referring to Fox News when he linked the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol to “outlets spreading lies to their audiences,” in an interview with Financial Times.

People close to James Murdoch have raised the possibility that he will seek to rally his two sisters to vote with him to wrest control of the company from Lachlan after their father’s death and redirect the company away from its signature populism.

But it’s unclear whether he will get the votes or whether he ultimately wants to force this kind of painful family fight. If Murdoch succeeds in achieving his goals, such a decision will be far-fetched. He has often noted that his mother, Lady Elizabeth Murdoch, died before her 104th birthday. As he wrote to employees on Thursday, “Our companies are healthy, and so am I.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.