Rupert Murdoch Reign Ends – According to report from CNBC Rupert Murdoch is going to finally step down as Chief executive of 21st Century Fox. However, Murdoch, who is 84 years old, still have the final say in matters as he intends to stay on as Executive Chairman of the company. No announcement has been mad as to who will succeed Murdoch other than it will be discussed at the next board meeting.
The most likely candidate is James Murdoch, who is 42 years old and has been acting as co-chief operating officer at Fox. He will almost certainly take over the day to day running of the company.
The entertainment company 21st Century Fox was created two years ago after the split from Rupert Murdoch’s media company, Newscorp. 21st Century Fox owns the Fox Hollywood studios and some television businesses.
News Corp,that owns The Times, The Sunday Times and The Wall Street Journal newspapers, was reported in May to see third quarter net profits fall 52%, compared with the same period in 2014. Declining advertising revenues and circulations for print publications were blamed or a fall in profits to $23m (£15.2m; €20.6m) for the quarter ended 31 March.
However, back in February 21st Century Fox made $6.2bn (£4.1bn) between October and December, compared with $1.2bn during the same period a year earlier. This was mostly due to the sale of stakes in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia to British parent Sky Broadcasting.
This ends the reign of one of the most legendary and controversial media executives the world has known. Murdoch started his career in Australia taking on two newspapers from his father. He quickly grew a reputation as a shrewd and calculating businessman, his approach was to grow through acquisition and the empire eventually became News Corporation. Murdoch ran into trouble in recent years when a phone hacking scandal was exposed at News of the World.
There has been no comment from News Corporation but CNBC has reported that:
“It is not expected to change much of what he does day to day of both Fox and News Corp., but the change at Fox is clearly an acknowledgement that the next generation of Murdoch is ready to take its place in leading the media giant.”
