Lachlan Murdoch could remerge Fox and News Corp now that he has secured power in the family business, according to his unauthorised biographer.
The eldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, was named his successor earlier this month, ending a bitter, almost two-year-long succession battle that saw the Murdoch siblings pitted against one another for control of their father’s media conglomerate.
Lachlan Murdoch, who shares his father’s conservative outlook, bought out his sisters Prudence and Elizabeth and his brother James’ stake for a total of $5 billion.
Investigative journalist Paddy Manning, author of the 2022 biography The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch, said it was possible the chosen son would also step away from running Fox, where he is currently chief executive.
“[He can] return to… the plan that he floated at the end of 2022 which was to remerge Fox and News Corporation,” Manning told Central News. “They were split in the wake of the phone hacking scandal but there’s a view that there are synergies to be gained by putting them together.
“I think you will see that proposal resurface. You could also see Lachlan appoint a full time CEO of Fox Corporation… so Lachlan stepping back to concentrate purely on strategy as executive chairman.”
He added acquisitions and takeovers could also be on Lachlan Murdoch’s radar.
“News and Fox Corporation are, financially, in very good shape,” he said. “It’s pretty unattractive to buy legacy media out there. I think what’s more likely is the kind of deals that Lachlan [did] last year… buy[ing] Red Seat Ventures, that podcasting business.
“I don’t think you are going to see Fox or News Corporation buy other cable networks or mastheads.”
News Corp has some incredibly profitable businesses… in particular Fox News and The Wall Street Journal that are really making money. But it’s highly uncertain how that’s going to continue.
Lachlan Murdoch is the current chair of News Corp, the parent company of US papers The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, and in Australia The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and The Australian.
But in an age where new media is becoming increasingly widespread, Manning said the future of the Murdoch media empire as a legacy media corporation was not so clear cut.
“What it means is, at this point, [it is] unclear because the future of the media is so unclear,” he added.
“The media has been so disrupted already by web one, web two, web three, it is very difficult to anticipate which way the industry is going to evolve, particularly given AI.
“Legacy media… has not got a very long future in a digital world…we’re evolving towards streaming, and most people get their news off social media.
“That’s not to say that the newspaper or cable television business are about to fail. In News Corp’s case they have some incredibly profitable businesses… in particular Fox News and The Wall Street Journal that are really making money. But it’s highly uncertain how that’s going to continue.”
The former ABC and Crikey journalist said the power of AI should not to be underestimated in the types of decisions Lachlan Murdoch would be making.
News Corp and OpenAI signed a historic multi-year global agreement in May 2024, which will allow OpenAI to display content from News Corp outlets in response to user questions on its generative AI platform, ChatGPT.
“News Corp is trying to do deals with AI to get revenue instead of just having its content ingested by these large language models for nothing, whereas other media proprietors have chosen to sue,” Manning said.
“The reality is… it’s still not going to turn most newspapers into engines of profit growth. Nothing is going to replace the reader and advertiser revenues that have migrated away.”
Main image of Lachlan Murdoch by Eva Rinaldi/Flickr and News Corp Alex Proimos/Flickr.
