Rupert Murdoch, the Australian press baron who reshaped conservative media in his image, plans to step down as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corporation.
He will become chairman emeritus of the two corporations, the company announced in a news release. Murdoch’s older son, Lachlan, will become the sole chairman of both firms.
“For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change. But the time is right for me to take on different roles,” Rupert Murdoch, 92, said in a six-paragraph message to employees Thursday.
“In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas,” he later added.
The mogul’s resignation marks the end of one of the most storied careers in modern media. Murdoch built a small Australian newspaper business into a sprawling corporate empire that, at its height, included a movie studio, a television network and a roster of cable channels.
The media titan’s most lasting legacy will almost certainly be Fox News, the 24/7 network he founded in 1996 as a competitor to CNN. The channel cultivated a devoted audience in the decades to come, establishing itself as a pillar of the modern conservative movement.
In recent years, Fox News opinion hosts have drawn intense criticism for pushing conspiracy theories and falsehoods, including airing baseless claims of voter fraud after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
Fox Corporation and Fox News were sued over those false allegations, most notably by Dominion Voting Systems, which settled with the companies for a staggering $787.5 million in April, averting what had promised to be a high-stakes trial.
“I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement.
“We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted,” he added.
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Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
