As he had done in Australia and England, Murdoch quickly set out to expand across the country, founding a national tabloid, the Star, in 1974 and purchasing the New York Post two years later. In 1979, Murdoch founded News Corporation, commonly referred to as News Corp., as a holding company for his various media properties. Only three years later, in 1956, Murdoch expanded his operations by purchasing the Perth-based Sunday Times and revamped it in the sensationalist style of the News. Then, in 1960, Murdoch broke into the lucrative Sydney market by purchasing the struggling Mirror and slowly transforming it into Sydney’s best-selling afternoon paper.
Additionally, after purchasing several prestigious American and British academic and literary publishing companies throughout the late 1980s, he consolidated them into HarperCollins that same year. After the deal, Rupert also became a 39% owner of the newly formed Fox Corporation. This mass media corporation owns several notable subsidiaries, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Fox News, Fox Broadcast Network, and The Times of London.
- She graduated from New York University, where she studied political science, economics and languages.
- According to Celebrity Net Worth, Murdoch’s total net worth was estimated around $9 billion as of August 2023.
- In June 2022, it was revealed that Rupert and Jerry Hall were getting a divorce.
- “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.
- Murdoch was able to take more control of Fox stations after becoming a US citizen in 1985.
According to a securities filing, Murdoch worked from his home in Montana instead of Fox or News Corp. offices beginning in July 2022. Just over a year later on September 21, 2023, Murdoch announced in a company memo to employees that he would be stepping down as chairman of the board of both companies effective in November. Although he never could have imagined the power he would one day wield, this kind of influence was exactly what Murdoch sought as a young publisher building his empire. “Not raw power but the ability to influence at least the agenda of what was going on.” And after six decades working in the media, Murdoch has said that he couldn’t imagine his life any other way. “If you’re in the media, particularly newspapers, you are in the thick of all the interesting things that are going on in a community, and I can’t imagine any other life that one would want to dedicate oneself to,” he said. In 1990, he founded Star TV, a Hong Kong-based television broadcasting company.
After setting up a new newspaper in Australia called “The Australian,” Rupert acquired a number of publications in the United Kingdom, such as “News of the World” and “The Sun,” both of which were struggling. Much as he had done in Australia, Murdoch transformed these papers into successful businesses. In 1973, he acquired the “San Antonio Express-News,” his first purchase of a US-based paper. A number of acquisitions followed, and he acquired the “New York Post” in 1976.
Real Estate
The News Corp leader has been known to enjoy a popular billionaire toy or two, such as his $84 million private jet, a Gulfstream G650 Aerospace which he reportedly purchased in 2015. Murdoch is reported to have sold his superyacht—the Rosehearty—for $29.7 million in 2014. Rupert Murdoch also owns a four-floor penthouse in New York City, right at the foot of Madison Square Park. He shelled out $57 million for the top three floors of the glassy One Madison condominium tower and another full-floor apartment beneath it in 2014 before trying unsuccessfully to sell the combined lot for $72 million a year later. The penthouse portion alone is nearly 7,600 square feet and boasts 360 degree views of the city. Other famous inhabitants of this building over rupert murdoch net worth the years include Peter Buffett, the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and celebrity couple NFL quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen.
Children and Wives
He was subsequently investigated by both the British government and the FBI. This controversy forced Murdoch to step down from his role as director of News International. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch announced Thursday he will step down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp., ending his reign as one of the wealthiest media moguls of all time. Lululemon’s controversial founder, to the second act of Epstein-tarnished billionaire Les Wexner, to the success of the power players behind brands like Aritzia, Aviator Nation and Skims. McEvoy previously worked on Forbes’ breaking news team and has written for outlets including CNN and Inc. magazine. She graduated from New York University, where she studied political science, economics and languages.
Murdoch inherited a newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, in 1952 at the age of 21 when his father, Keith, died.
Encouraged by his success and harboring ambitions of political influence, Murdoch founded Australia’s first national daily paper in 1965 called the Australian, which helped to rebuild Murdoch’s image as a respectable news publisher. Although Rupert seemed to work through the “cover” of several mysterious corporations, it is widely believed that he acquired three units in the Porter House building of New York City’s meatpacking district. These three units were purchased between 2012 and 2014 for a sum of $12.85 million. At one point these units were then listed collectively for a total price of $22 million. In addition, Murdoch owns a 12,000-square-foot Georgian townhouse on the Upper East Side of New York, which he purchased in 2011 for $23 million. Within the U.S., Murdoch has feet on both coasts thanks to the 2013 purchase of Moraga Vineyards and Estate, a 13-acre winery and mansion in Bel Air, California.
In the fall of 1968, the 37-year-old owner of an Australian news empire valued at $50 million moved to London and purchased the enormously popular Sunday tabloid The News of the World. One year later, Murdoch bought another struggling daily tabloid, the Sun, and again oversaw a successful transformation with his formula of reporting heavily on sex, sports, and crime. The Sun also attracted readers by including pictures of topless women in its infamous “Page 3” feature. In December 2021, Rupert paid $200 million for a 340,000-acre ranch in Montana that had been owned by members of the Koch family for decades. At the time of the purchase, it was the largest ranch sale in Montana’s history, both in terms of price and size.
Disney Acquisition
The creator of “Succession,” Jesse Armstrong, told the Radio Times he started out writing a show about Murdoch that never got made, which led him to write “Succession,” based on him and other media moguls, such as Robert Maxwell. He went on to make Fox the fourth broadcast network in the US and established Fox News as a dominant force in cable news. He embedded himself in every facet of production and soon bought up more newspapers in the country. Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son and successor to his empire, was most recently executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, and co-chairman of News Corp.
Immediately upon assuming control of the Sunday Mail and the News, Murdoch immersed himself in all aspects of the papers’ daily operations. He wrote headlines, redesigned page layouts, and labored in the typesetting and printing rooms. He quickly converted the News into a chronicle of crime, sex, and scandal, and while these changes were controversial, the paper’s circulation soared. In February 2023, Rupert bought a full-floor, 6,500-square-foot apartment on Central Park South that had been seeking $30 million.
Beginning with a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, inherited from his father in 1952, Murdoch aggressively expanded his holdings through acquisitions and launches across multiple continents. His News Corporation grew to encompass newspapers, magazines, book publishers, film studios, and television networks. Notable assets included “The Times” and “The Sun” in the UK, “The Wall Street Journal” and “New York Post” in the US, and Fox News. Murdoch’s influence extended beyond media into politics, with his outlets often accused of shaping public opinion and electoral outcomes.
Although he was born in Australia, Murdoch became a U.S. citizen in 1985 and soon thereafter renounced his Australian citizenship. Today, Rupert is an extremely influential figure in the United States and around the world, as he owns some of the most notable publishing outlets around the globe. These outlets include Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Sky News Australia, HarperCollins, and countless others. Murdoch has been the executive chairman of News Corp since 2013, when News Corporation separated into two distinct, publicly traded companies, News Corp and 21st Century Fox. In March 2019, Rupert Murdoch sold his share of 21st Century Fox along with other media assets to the Walt Disney Company for $71.3 billion. Murdoch next expanded his news empire to the United States, with the 1973 acquisition of a Texas-based tabloid, the San Antonio News.
