Fox News Owner Will Prop Up His Son, Report Finds
(PatriotWise.com) – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is looking to recombine News Corp. and Fox Corp. nine years after he split the two companies apart.
The Murdoch family holds about 40 percent of the voting stock of each company. By recombining them, they would save corporate expenses and allow the larger entity to more easily promote new businesses across multiple media outlets.
It is expected that the move will likely consolidate power in the hands of Murdoch’s son Lachlan, 51, who is currently the CEO of Fox. His other son James resigned from the News Corp. board in 2020, citing disagreements on news judgment and strategy.
The 91-year-old Rupert Murdoch serves as chairman of Fox and executive chairman of News Corp. He also holds the biggest share of votes on the family trust.
His son Lachlan is the favorite to eventually take over the entire Murdoch empire.
Some analysts believe the proposed recombination of News Corp. and Fox Corp. is unlikely to change much since neither company has businesses that are complementary to each other.
Analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. suggested the merger could deliver synergies in programming and content. USB Group AG noted that News Corp.’s American divisions like Dow Jones and the New York Post could benefit from cross-promotion with Fox’s television businesses and there could be some synergies with Fox’s cable network division.
Lachlan Murdoch defended the initial split-up of the two companies during a 2019 presentation to investors, arguing that the split allowed the company to return to its roots. He said at the time that there was “no logic in reversing the benefits of those defining actions.”
Since then, however, Lachlan’s thinking has changed now that the media landscaping has shifted and more consumers are viewing content online.
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