Keith Rupert Murdoch AC KCSG, an American billionaire, media magnate, and investor, was born in Australia on March 11, 1931. He is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing companies through his company News Corp, including the book publisher HarperCollins, the television networks Sky News Australia and Fox News, as well as publications in the US in The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, Australia in The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, and The Australian, the UK in The Sun and The Times. He also held ownership positions in 21st Century Fox (until 2019), Sky (until 2018), and the now-defunct News of the World.
Rupert Murdoch Bio/Wiki
Birth Name | Keith Rupert Murdoch |
Nick Name | Rupert Murdoch |
Age | 92 years (As of 2023) |
Religion | Catholic |
Sun Sign/Zodiac Sign | Pisces |
Birth Place | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Date of Birth | 11 March 1931 |
Nationality | Australia and America |
Hobbies | Playing Golf |
Family |
|
Mother's Name | |
Father's Name | |
Brother | Lachlan |
Sister | Janet Calvert-Jones, Anne Kantor and, Helen Handbury |
Girlfriends/Affairs |
|
Affairs/Girlfriends | Patricia Booker, Anna Torv, Wendi Deng |
Marital Status, Wife and Children |
|
Wife/Spouse | |
Marital Status | Married |
Children | Prudence, Elisabeth Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, James Murdoch, Grace and Chloe |
Education |
|
School | Geelong Grammar School, |
College/University | Worcester College, Oxford |
Profession | Media Mogul |
Height, Weight, and Figure Measurements |
|
Height (Approx.) | 178 cm |
Weight (Approx.) | 70 |
Extra Ordinary Features |
|
Race / Ethnicity | English, Irish and Scottish |
Hair Color | White |
Eye Color | Black |
S*xual Orientation | Straight |
Favourite Things |
|
Favourite Food | Pizza |
Favourite Book | NA |
Favourite Colors | Red |
Favourite Sport | Golf |
Controversies | None |
Ruby Rose Bio, Age, Girlfriend, Net Worth, Batwoman, Movies & Wiki
Early Life
Murdoch was born on March 11, 1931, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was the son of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (née Greene; 1909–2012) and Sir Keith Murdoch (1885–1952). He has Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry. Murdoch’s grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor, and both of his parents were born in Melbourne. Keith Murdoch, a former war correspondent who subsequently became the chairman of the influential Herald and Weekly Times publishing group, owned two newspapers in Adelaide, South Australia, a radio station in a far-off mining town, and was a regional newspaper tycoon. Keith Rupert decided to use his maternal grandfather’s first name as his second name later in life. Janet Calvert-Jones, Anne Kantor, and Helen Handbury (1929–2004) were the three sisters of Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch took over the management of The News, his father’s modest Adelaide newspaper after his father passed away in 1952. Murdoch bought a number of publications in Australia and New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s before moving into the United Kingdom in 1969 and acquiring The Sun and News of the World. Murdoch relocated to New York City in 1974 in order to enter the US market. Although he kept his holdings in Australia and Britain. Murdoch purchased The Times, his first British newspaper, in 1981. To fulfil the legal criteria for US television network ownership, he gave up his Australian citizenship in 1985 and naturalised as a US citizen. Murdoch centralised his UK printing operations in London in 1986 because he was eager to implement more modern electronic publishing technologies, which led to acrimonious labour battles. His holding firm News Corporation purchased The Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins, and Twentieth Century Fox in 1985. (2007). In 1990, Murdoch founded the British broadcaster BSkyB. During the 1990s, he also made inroads into South American and Asian television networks. Murdoch’s News Corporation had a net worth of over $5 billion and owned over 800 businesses in more than 50 nations by the year 2000.
Rupert Murdoch Personal Life
Marriages
Murdoch wed Patricia Booker, a Melbourne native who had previously worked as a shop assistant and a flight attendant, in 1956. Prudence was the couple’s lone child, born in 1958. They split up in 1967. Murdoch wed Anna Torv, a cadet reporter of Scottish descent who worked for his Sydney publication The Daily Mirror, in 1967. Three months before he announced his split from Roman Catholic Anna, in January 1998, Murdoch received the papal distinction of Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great (KSG) from Pope John Paul II. Murdoch would frequently go to Mass with Torv, but he was never catholic. Elisabeth Murdoch was born on August 22, 1968, in Sydney, Australia; Lachlan Murdoch was born on September 8, 1971, in London; and James Murdoch was born on December 13, 1972, in London. Family Business (1988) and Coming to Terms (both published by Murdoch’s enterprises) are two of his then-novels. wife’s (1991). In June 1999, they separated. A $1.2 billion asset settlement was given to Anna Murdoch. Murdoch, who was 68 years old at the time, wed Wendi Deng on June 25, 1999, 17 days after divorcing his second spouse. She was 30 years old, a recent graduate of the Yale School of Management, and a recently appointed vice president of STAR TV. Grace (born in 2001) and Chloe were two of Murdoch’s daughters with her (born in 2003). In total, Murdoch is the father of six children and the grandfather of thirteen grandkids. Hearsay about a potential connection to Chinese intelligence caused difficulties for his marriage to Wendi near the conclusion of it. A News Corporation representative confirmed on June 13, 2013, that Murdoch had divorced Deng in New York City, USA. The marriage, according to the representative, had been irreparably damaged for more than six months. Murdoch also broke off his connection with Tony Blair, whom he had known for a long time, after learning that Blair had a relationship with Deng while the two were still married. Murdoch announced his engagement to former model Jerry Hall in a notice published in The Times on January 11, 2016. A week before turning 85, Murdoch wed 59-year-old Hall in London’s St Bride’s, Fleet Street, followed by a reception at Spencer House. This was Murdoch’s fourth marriage. According to two unnamed sources, The New York Times reported in June 2022 that Murdoch and Hall were getting a divorce. On July 1, 2022, Hall filed for divorce, alleging irreconcilable differences.
Children
Murdoch has six kids in total. Prudence MacLeod, his eldest child, was named to the board of Times Newspapers Ltd, a division of News International that is responsible for publishing The Times and The Sunday Times, on January 28, 2011. Before leaving his managerial positions at the multinational media firm at the end of July 2005, Murdoch’s elder son Lachlan, who was formerly the Deputy Chief Operating Officer at News Corporation and publisher of the New York Post, was seen as the corporation’s heir apparent. The only Murdoch son still actively involved in the business’ operations after Lachlan’s departure was James Murdoch, Chief Executive of satellite television provider British Sky Broadcasting since November 2003, even though Lachlan has consented to stay on the board of News Corporation Grace (born in New York in November 2001) and Chloe are two of Murdoch’s children with Wendi Deng (b. New York, July 2003). In September 2011, it was made public that Tony Blair is Grace’s godfather. Murdoch and his eldest children are said to be at odds over the rules of a trust that holds the family’s 28.5 per cent interest in News Corporation, which was valued at nearly $6.1 billion in 2005. According to the trust, his offspring by Wendi Deng receive a portion of the stock’s revenues but is not given voting rights or ownership of the shares. Murdoch and the offspring of his first two marriages each have one-half of the voting rights in the company. The stock will subsequently be solely controlled by Murdoch’s offspring from the past marriages, though their half-siblings will continue to receive their part of the profits from it. Murdoch’s voting rights are not transferable, however, they will expire at his death. Murdoch has claimed that he wants to grant his children via Deng a degree of authority over the stock that is proportionate to their financial stake in it (which would mean, if Murdoch dies while at least one of the children is a minor, that Deng would exercise that control). He doesn’t seem to have any compelling legal justifications to challenge the current arrangement, and both his ex-wife Anna and their three children are rumoured to be fiercely opposed to any such change.
Erik Prince Net Worth, Age, Family, Wife, Height, Personal Life
Professional Career
When he was 21 years old and his father passed away, Murdoch returned from Oxford to run what was left of the family business. What was left after his father’s Herald interest was liquidated to pay taxes was News Limited, a company that had been founded in 1923. The News, a newspaper based in Adelaide, became a huge success thanks to Rupert Murdoch. He started focusing on acquisition and growth, purchasing the troubled Sunday Times in Perth, Western Australia, in 1956. Over the following few years, he also bought suburban and regional newspapers in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and the Northern Territory, including the Sydney afternoon tabloid The Daily Mirror (1960). Murdoch is credited by The Economist with “creating the contemporary tabloid” because he established a pattern for his newspapers by emphasising scandal and sports coverage and using catchy headlines.
Activities in Australia
Murdoch’s purchase of a majority stake in the New Zealand newspaper The Dominion was his first venture outside of Australia. After sailing across the Tasman in January 1964, Murdoch and several companions were travelling to New Zealand when they came across a takeover offer for the Wellington paper from Lord Thomson of Fleet, a Canadian newspaper tycoon with a British base. He made a counterbid on the spur of the moment. Thereafter, four parties engaged in a power struggle, with 32-year-old Murdoch coming out on top. The Australian, Australia’s first national daily newspaper, was published by Murdoch later in 1964. It was initially situated in Canberra and eventually moved to Sydney. Sir Frank Packer, a prominent Australian media tycoon, sold Murdoch the Sydney morning daily The Daily Telegraph in 1972; Packer later regretted doing so. Murdoch received the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1984 for his contributions to publishing. Sir John McEwen, leader of the Australian Country Party (now known as the National Party of Australia), who was in power in coalition with the bigger Menzies-Holt-Gorton Liberal Party, was a political ally that Murdoch found. Beginning with the inaugural edition of The Australian, Murdoch started siding with McEwen on any subject that caused friction between the long-standing coalition allies. First edition of The Australian, July 15, 1964, top page: “Strain in Cabinet, Liberal-CP Row Flares.” It was a problem that posed a threat to the coalition government, allowing the more powerful Australian Labour Party to take control of Australian politics. It was the start of a protracted campaign that worked well for McEwen.Murdoch is a supporter of an Australian Republic, having campaigned for such a change during the 1999 referendum.
Activities in the UK
Murdoch first entered the British newspaper business in 1968 when he bought the populist News of the World. He then bought the failing daily The Sun from IPC the following year. Murdoch used the same printing process for both newspapers, giving The Sun a tabloid-style while cutting expenses. He named Albert “Larry” Lamb as editor after purchasing it, telling him, as Lamb later claimed, that he wanted a tearaway tabloid with lots of tits. The Sun had 10 million daily readers in 1997. Murdoch bought the struggling Times and Sunday Times in 1981 from Lord Thomson of Fleet, the owner of a Canadian newspaper. Through his friendship with Lord Thomson, who had grown weary of losing money on The Times as a result of a protracted spell of industrial action that prevented publishing, he acquired ownership of the newspaper. The owners thought Murdoch could turn around the journals in light of his success and growth at The Sun. Harold Evans, editor of the Sunday Times starting in 1967, was transferred to the daily Times, but he only remained there for one year due to editorial disagreements with Murdoch. François-Henri also provided funding for the 2015 French documentary “Ice and the Sky.” The movie, which was directed by Luc Jacquet, tells the story of scientist Claude Lorius’ investigation of Antarctic ice and his worry about global warming. The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) presented François-Henri with the “International Leadership Award” in 2015 in recognition of his work to promote business responsibility, women’s rights, and awareness of minority discrimination. In 2016, his name was added to the “Vanity Fair Hall of Fame.” François-Henri Pinault declared his intention to outperform “Louis Vuitton” over time in 2018. He said that year that Kering was leaving the sports and lifestyle market to concentrate only on the luxury market. Many on the British political left claimed that Murdoch and Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative administration had colluded in the Wapping scandal in order to harm the country’s trade union movement. The fired workers agreed to a £60 million settlement in 1987. Because of concerns about market dominance that would lead to media control, the CMA prevented Murdoch from acquiring the remaining 61 per cent of BSkyB in January 2018. The CMA later authorised his bid for BSkyB as long as he sold Sky News to The Walt Disney Company, which was already planning to acquire 21st Century Fox. Disney was already planning to buy Fox. But in a blind auction that the CMA mandated, Comcast emerged victorious and now owns BSkyB. Murdoch ultimately sold Comcast his 39 per cent ownership of BSkyB. The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Channel Islands, and the Virgin Islands all have subsidiaries of News Corporation. Since 1986, News Corporation has paid an average of 7% of its profits in taxes each year. Activities in the United States In 1973, Murdoch made his first purchase in the US when he bought the San Antonio Express-News. Murdoch relocated to New York City in 1974 in order to enter the US market, although he kept his holdings in Australia and Britain. He established the supermarket tabloid Star soon after, and in 1976, he bought the New York Post. To comply with the legal requirement that only US nationals were allowed to control US television stations, Murdoch naturalised on September 4, 1985. Due to Rich’s business dealings with Iran, which were at the time subject to US sanctions, Marvin Davis sold Marc Rich’s stake in 20th Century Fox to Rupert Murdoch for $250 million in March 1984. A second agreement between Davis and Murdoch to buy John Kluge’s Metromedia television stations was cancelled. Rupert Murdoch bought the stations by himself, without Marvin Davis, and eventually bought out Davis’s remaining part in Fox for $325 million. The Fox Broadcasting Company, which was established on October 9, 1986, was built around the six television stations Metromedia owned. This company eventually saw enormous success with shows including The Simpsons and The X-Files. In 1993, Murdoch’s Fox Network acquired CBS’ exclusive rights to cover the National Football League (NFL) and expanded its programming to run seven days a week. Fox came under the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) investigation in 1995 as it was claimed that Murdoch’s ownership of Fox was illegal due to News Ltd.’s Australian headquarters. The FCC decided in Murdoch’s favour, saying that having control of Fox was in the public’s best interests. The Weekly Standard, a significant news website and magazine, was going to be developed thanks to a partnership Murdoch had with MCI Communications that year. The Foxtel pay television network was introduced in Australia that same year by News Corporation in collaboration with Telstra. Murdoch made the decision to launch the Fox News Channel, a 24-hour cable news programme, in 1996 as an entry into the cable-news industry. According to rating reports published in 2009, the network produced nine of the top 10 cable news shows at the time. Ted Turner, the creator and previous owner of CNN, and Rupert Murdoch have a history of conflict. In late 2003, Murdoch paid General Motors $6 billion for a 34 per cent ownership in Hughes Electronics, the company that runs DirecTV, the largest satellite TV service in the United States (USD). [34] Titanic and Avatar, produced by his Fox film studio, were worldwide hits. Murdoch supported Donald Trump when he served as US President by having news items from his media empire, particularly Fox News, aired. The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammad bin Salman enjoyed a private dinner at Rupert Murdoch’s Bel Air residence in Los Angeles at the beginning of 2018. Murdoch has a long history of backing Israel’s domestic policies. Murdoch received the International Leadership Award from the Anti-Defamation League in New York City in October 2010 “for his steadfast support of Israel and his commitment to encouraging respect and speaking out against anti-Semitic.” The ADL’s director Jonathan Greenblatt informed Lachlan Murdoch in a letter dated April 2021 that the organisation would no longer present his father with such an honour. This was in direct relation to the ADL’s claims against Fox News host Tucker Carlson for allegedly endorsing the White replacement thesis.
Activities in Europe
Sky Italia, an Italian provider of satellite television, is controlled by Murdoch. Murdoch’s commercial ventures in Italy have long been the subject of controversy. Silvio Berlusconi and Rupert Murdoch engaged in a media battle in 2010 and Murdoch ultimately prevailed. A judge determined that News Corporation’s Italian division, Sky Italia, was prohibited from purchasing commercials on its television networks by the then-Prime Minister’s media company, Mediaset.
Activities in Asia
For around US$105 million in November 1986, News Corporation acquired a 35 per cent stake in the South China Morning Post group. At the time, HSBC, Hutchison Whampoa, and Dow Jones & Company owned SCMP group, a stock-listed business. For US$57.2 million, Dow Jones & Company made a December 1986 offer to sell 19% of the SCMP shares that News Corporation already owned. By the end of the year, News Corporation had completed the whole transaction. Robert Kuok’s Kerry Media and News Corporation reached an agreement in September 1993 to sell News Corporation a 34.9 percent stake in SCMP for US$349 million. The Hong Kong newspaper was disposed of in 1994 when News Corporation sold MUI Group its remaining 15.1% stake in SCMP. The ADL’s director Jonathan Greenblatt informed Lachlan Murdoch in a letter dated April 2021 that the organisation would no longer present his father with such an honour. This was in direct relation to the ADL’s claims against Fox News host Tucker Carlson for allegedly endorsing the White replacement thesis. In 1993, News Corporation paid Hutchison Whampoa $1 billion to acquire Star TV, a Hong Kong business run by Richard Li. News Corporation then opened offices for Star TV across Asia. News International was able to broadcast from Hong Kong to India, China, and more than thirty other Asian nations thanks to the agreement, making it one of the largest satellite television networks in the east. However, the agreement did not go as Murdoch had hoped because the Chinese government imposed restrictions that prevented it from reaching the majority of China. When News Corporation reformed Star in 2009, some of the arrangements included the separation of Star India and the integration of the original company’s businesses in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East into Fox International Channels.
Rupert Murdoch Education
He went to Geelong Grammar School, where he served as editor of the student publication If Revived and co-editor of the institution’s official journal, The Corian. The cricket team from his school he led to the National Junior Finals. His father prepared him to take over the family business while he was a part-time employee at the Melbourne Herald. At Worcester College in Oxford, England, where he studied philosophy, politics, and economics, Murdoch developed the moniker “Red Rupert” and kept a bust of Lenin in his chamber. He ran Oxford Student Publications Limited, Cherwell’s publishing firm, served as secretary of the Labour Club, and he was a member of the Oxford University Labour Party.
Larry Ellison Bio, Age, Wife, Girlfriend, Children, House
Rupert Murdoch Net Worth
Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch made his wealth by founding News Corp. Rupert Murdoch is $21.7 billion in wealth. Murdoch, who is Australian, owns some of the most prestigious publishing houses in the world, making him a very powerful person in both the US and the rest of the world. These include HarperCollins, Sky News Australia, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, Fox News, The Times, and numerous others.
Estimated Net Worth in 2023 (Approx) | $21.7 Billion |
Estimated Net Worth in 2022 (Approx) | $20 biilion |
Estimated Net Worth in 2021 (Approx) | $20 biilion |
Estimated Net Worth in 2020 (Approx) | $19 biilion |
Annual Salary | <$1 biilion |
Assets |
|
Houses | |
Cars | |
Jets |
Rupert Murdoch Achievements
With a net worth of $13.7 billion as of February 2017, Murdoch ranked 96th on Forbes’ real-time list of the world’s billionaires and was the 34th wealthiest person in the US. According to Forbes, “Rupert Murdoch & Family” was listed as the 35th most powerful person in the world in 2016. Rupert Murdoch and his family were later rated 52nd on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s wealthiest in 2019. Terry Flew, a professor of media and communications at the Queensland University of Technology, looked into the assertion made by the former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd that Murdoch owned 70 per cent of Australian newspapers in 2011. The essay was published in The Conversation in August 2013. According to the Finkelstein Review of Media and Media Regulation, which was cited in Flew’s article, News Corp Australia owned 23% of the country’s newspapers in 2011; however, at the time of publication, the company’s publications represented 59% of the sales of all daily newspapers, with weekly sales of 17.3 million copies. Newsweek International’s editor, Tunku Varadarajan, referred to Murdoch as “the man whose name is synonymous with unethical newspapers” in relation to his testimony to the Leveson Inquiry “into the ethics of the British press”. During the 2013 federal election, News Corp publications were charged with swaying public opinion and aiding the Australian Liberal government’s campaign. Murdoch tweeted after hearing that the Liberal Party had won the election “The Australian electorate is tired of welfare fraudsters and public sector workers sapping the vitality out of the economy. Later, other countries will follow.” According to Tony Abbott, a former Australian prime minister, Murdoch “perhaps has had more impact on the wider globe than any other living Australian,” in November 2015. Theranos, the blood-testing start-up founded by Elizabeth Holmes, came under scrutiny in late 2015 when Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou started a series of investigative articles challenging the company’s assertion that it could perform a variety of lab tests using just a small amount of blood drawn from a finger prick. To put an end to the article, Holmes resorted to Murdoch, whose media company owns The Wall Street Journal, where Carreyrou works. As a result of his $125 million injections, Murdoch, who became the largest investor in Theranos in 2015, declined Holmes’ request, stating that “he trusted the paper’s editors to handle the situation fairly.”
Hugh Jackman Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Kids, Movies
FAQs
How much is the net worth of Rupert Murdoch? $21.7 billion Who is Rupert Murdoch’s wife? Jerry Hall What is Rupert Murdoch’s age? 92 What is the name of Rupert Murdoch’s firm? HarperCollins