Rupert Murdoch has stepped down as the chairman of Fox and News Corp, ending a seven-decade career that began from his father's Australian newspaper business and culminated in one of the most influential media empires.
With deals for companies like Dow Jones, Sky and 21st Century Fox, Murdoch built a media behemoth that controlled large swaths of news, publishing and film industries.
Here's a timeline of key milestones through Murdoch's career:
|
Year |
Event |
|
1952 |
Murdoch inherits his father's Australian newspaper "The News" at the age of 21. In 1953, he becomes its editor and publisher and joins the board of News Ltd. |
|
1969 |
He acquires News of the World and turns it into the most widely read English-language weekly in the world, eventually amassing scores of newspapers and magazines. |
|
1973 |
Enters the US market with the purchase of San Antonio Express and the San Antonio News. |
|
1976 |
Acquires New York Post for US$30 million (S$41 million). |
|
1981 |
His company News International buys the Times and Sunday Times |
|
1985 |
Buys 50% of 21st Century Fox |
|
1986 |
News Corporation acquires Metromedia, which included six television stations that would lay the foundation for Fox network. |
|
1987 |
Buys US publisher Harper & Row |
|
1989 |
Forms publisher HarperCollins through merger of the two companies. Launches Sky Television in the UK |
|
1996 |
Launches Fox News |
|
1998 |
Fox Entertainment Group went public |
|
2004 |
Murdoch enacts an emergency poison pill provision after Liberty Media Chairman John Malone quietly snaps up close to 20 per cent of News Corp voting shares. |
|
2007 |
Acquires the Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones for US$5.6 billion. |
|
2011 |
Shuts the weekly British tabloid, News of the World, after a far-reaching phone hacking scandal that rocked his empire, the Murdoch family and the British establishment. |
|
2013 |
Splits News Corporation assets into News Corp and 21st Century Fox |
|
Dec, 2017 |
Disney strikes a deal to buy film, television and international businesses from Twenty-First Century Fox for US$52.4 billion in stock |
|
May, 2018 |
Lachlan Murdoch replaces brother James as Fox CEO after Disney deal. |
|
Sept, 2018 |
21st Century Fox agrees to sell its 39 per cent stake in Sky to Comcast, completing the U.S. cable group's takeover and ending Murdoch's ties with the UK-based satellite broadcaster. |
|
March, 2019 |
Walt Disney closes its US$71 billion acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox's film and television assets. |
|
Feb, 2021 |
Electronic voting systems maker Smartmatic sues Fox News and Rudolph Giuliani, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, claiming they falsely accused the company of helping to rig the US presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. |
|
March, 2021 |
Dominion Voting Systems Corp files a US$1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, accusing it of trying to boost its ratings by falsely claiming the company rigged the 2020 US presidential election against Donald Trump. |
|
Oct, 2022 |
Murdoch starts a process to reunite his media empire, News Corp and Fox Corp, saying they would consider combining at his behest, nearly a decade after the companies split. |
|
Jan, 2023 |
Murdoch scraps proposal to reunite News Corp and Fox Corp as the company was also exploring a sale of Move Inc. |
|
April, 2023 |
Fox settles a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for US$787.5 million, over US election lies. A week later Fox News Media and top-rated host Tucker Carlson agree to part ways. |
|
Sept, 2023 |
Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corp, cementing his son Lachlan's role as the leader of the media empire. Lachlan will be the chairman of News Corp and continue as the chair and CEO of Fox. |
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