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Rupert Murdoch has announced his retirement on Thursday (US time), ending a career that has spanned seven decades.
Murdoch will transition from his roles as chair of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp in November, becoming “chairman emeritus”.
The 92-year-old’s career as a media executive is among the most consequential in world.
Here is a look back at his rise.
1954: Rupert Murdoch returns to Australia from Oxford University and joins Adelaide company News Ltd as publisher of The News in Adelaide.
1960: News Ltd purchases Sydney newspapers the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror.
1964: Launches The Australian, the nation’s first national newspaper.
1969: In London, Murdoch wins control of News of the World. He also acquires The Sun, which he converts from broadsheet to tabloid.
1973: Enters the US market with purchase of the San Antonio Express and San Antonio News.
Rupert Murdoch examining The Australian in July 1964.
1976: Buys the New York Post.
1981: Purchases The Times and The Sunday Times in London.
1984: Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for services to publishing.
Marriages
Jerry Hall (2016 – 2022)
Wendi Deng (1999-2013, divorced) Children: Chloe and Grace
Anna Torv (1967-1999, divorced) Children: Elisabeth, Lachlan and James
Patricia Booker (1956-1967, divorced) Children: Prudence
1985: Murdoch becomes a naturalised US citizen. He purchases half of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, from oilman Marvin Davis, and later buys Davis’ remaining stake.
1986: Moves his British newspapers to Wapping, eliminating many printing jobs and triggering a long and often violent industrial dispute.
Purchases several US TV stations and creates Fox Broadcasting, launching Fox Television network.
Rupert Murdoch arrives in Sydney from the US in January 1987 to have further discussions about the takeover bid of The Herald and Weekly Times. Credit: John O’Gready
1987: Buys the Melbourne-based The Herald and Weekly Times, the newspaper group once run by his father.
1988: Sells the New York Post due to laws prohibiting ownership of newspapers and TV stations in the same market.
1989: Launches Sky Television in the UK.
Rupert Murdoch and Alan Sugar at the launch of Sky UK in 1988. At the time, Sugar was a major supplier of satellite reception dishes.Credit: Archives
1990: Merges Harper and Row and two other publishing operations into HarperCollins Publishers.
1993: Buys back the New York Post.
2005: Purchases Intermix Media, owner of social networking site MySpace.com.
2007: Purchases Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corp, addresses a crowded Wall Street Journal newsroom in 2007 after taking over Dow Jones & Co.Credit: AP/Mark Lennihan
2011
July 6: Former British prime minister David Cameron announces the Leveson inquiry into phone hacking and police bribery at News of the World.
July 10: Final print edition of News of the World is published.
July 15: Murdoch meets the family of murdered teen Milly Dowler, and personally apologises for the hacking of Dowler’s phone by News of the World staff.
Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch arrive at his residence in central London during the phone hacking inquiry.Credit: AP
July 19: Rupert and James Murdoch face a British parliamentary inquiry into the phone hacking scandal. Rupert describes the interrogation-style proceedings as “the most humble day of my life”.
2015: Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Murdoch “arguably has had more impact on the wider world than any other living Australian”.
2018: Hospitalised after injuring his back in fall on son Lachlan’s yacht.
2019: Murdoch sells most of 21st Century Fox to the Walt Disney Company for $US71 billion; the family trust receives $US12 billion in Disney shares to be distributed evenly to Murdoch’s six children.
2021: Electronic voting systems maker Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems Corp sues Fox News for false claims made about their role in Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
2023
April: Fox News paid $US787 million ($1.16 billion) to settle a lawsuit on its reporting after the 2020 election to avoid a divisive trial and lengthy appeals process, its parent company’s chief executive said. Fox News Media and top-rating host Tucker Carlson agree to part ways.
September: Rupert announces his retirement as chair of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp. He becomes “chairman emeritus”. Son Lachlan becomes the sole chairman of both companies.
Wires, staff reporter
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