“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.” ~Rupert Murdoch
IMG: Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Rupert Murdoch is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of the world’s second largest media conglomerate, News Corporation. At 82 years old, Murdoch is worth about $11.2 billion—making him #91 on the Forbes Billionaires list, #26 on the Powerful People list, and #36 on the Forbes 400.
This summer, Murdoch’s News Corp. split into two publicly trade companies—News Corp and 21st Century Fox. News Corp will focus mainly on newspapers and publishing, while 21st Century Fox will indulge in the entertainment industry. Having two separate companies rather than one large conglomerate should lead to more targeted and focused management for each.
Rupert Murdoch is a native of Melbourne, Australia, where he was born Keith Rupert Murdoch in 1931. His father was a journalist and newspaper owner, and Murdoch eventually inherited the Adelaide papers, Sunday Mail and the News, when his father passed away in 1952. He continued his family’s media legacy by purchasing other media companies throughout his life, eventually moving his purchasing focus to the United States in the seventies. In the mid-eighties, he bought out 20th Century Fox. Murdoch himself is responsible for launching FOX News channel.
“I was brought up in a publishing home, a newspaper man’s home, and was excited by that, I suppose,” Murdoch reflected on his upbringing. “I saw that life at close range, and after the age of ten or twelve never really considered any other.”
Today, News Corp and 21st Century Fox own newspapers, book publishing companies, magazines, music and radio groups, sports teams, television and movie studios, television channels, broadcasting companies, satellite television companies, television networks, digital companies, and more all over the world.
