Lachlan Murdoch, Biographer on Sons and Rupert Murdoch

• Lachlan Murdoch’s family and business relationships are the subject of a new unofficial biography.
• Paddy Manning, the author of this article, speculates about who could exit if Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp and News Corp recombine.  
• Both Murdoch sharesholders expressed reservations about this deal.

This story was first published on November 10, 2005 and has been updated.

Newly-divorced Rupert Murdoch, now 91 and working remotely from his ranch in Montana, has flipped the media’s klieg lights back onto his influential media empire Fox — now run by his elder son, Lachlan Murdoch. In October, the company formed a special committee in order to examine whether it could reunite with News Corp and what other combinations might look like. Investors will have their say as well. T. Rowe Price, a significant shareholder of News Corp, expressed concern about the merger.

Paddy Manning (Australian journalist), author of “The Successor. The High-Stakes Lives of Lachlan Murdoch”, a upcoming unauthorised biography, spoke to Insider to discuss what may be driving the Murdochs’ to seek alternatives. 

Manning is currently researching a doctorate in history of News Corp and noted that Rupert Murdoch might have another big hand. The author also speculated that the two Murdoch-controlled companies — which were split in 2013, with publishing assets falling under News Corp and film and entertainment properties under 21st Century Fox — could be taken off the public markets.

Rupert Murdoch built one of the biggest media conglomerates of the 21st Century and for decades, media obsessives pondered which of his children — Lachlan, James, or Liz — would inherit his mantle. 

They found out when Murdoch dismantled 21st Century Fox and sold the bulk of its film and TV assets to Disney in 2019, setting up the Murdoch family trust that controls about 40 percent of the voting stakes in both News Corp and Fox — which holds the Fox broadcast network and stations and Tubi, as well as Fox News and Fox Sports. Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corp, and chairman of Fox, remains.

Fox named Lachlan Murdoch its CEO. James Murdoch was relieved of his four-year tenure as 21st Century Fox’s CEO and was left to forge his own path. 

Manning speculated that if the proposed merger of Fox and News Corp were to happen, it could result in the departure of some longtime executives — as well as some turmoil among the Murdoch siblings regarding the assets’ future.

Insider’s conversation between Manning and Insider has been reduced to a manageable length and edited for clarity.

Why did you decide to write a book on Lachlan Murdoch’s life?

Someone said that there have been more than 100 books on Rupert. So all of this focus is on Rupert, but no focus yet on the next generation — and in Lachlan’s case, on the guy who was clearly running Fox and poised to take control of the entire empire.

Neil Chenoweth published a piece in Sydney’s Australian Financial Review stating that Rupert has signed a telecommuting deal with News Corporation. He no longer has to go to work, and he can be at home on his Montana ranch. 

There’s a quote that one financial analyst gave me — Lachlan gets fired the day Rupert dies. 

He was fired by the trust’s siblings. 

Correct.

Are you able to speak with Lachlan Murdoch?

I didn’t get any response from him. However, I was allowed to speak with the people who work closely with Lachlan. 

Since his early twenties, he has been the subject of media speculation and coverage. That’s thirty years in the spotlight. He is an extremely private individual for the high-profile post he holds. He is as cautious as one would expect. He is very selective in who he speaks to. 

Could we see Lachlan’s siblings — Liz, James, and Prudence — taking over Fox News and becoming a force in American media again?

You could definitely have a contest. While forty percent is a good number, it’s still not a majority. They don’t have absolute control. You can imagine an investor revolt in the combined companies if they proposed a radical transformation to Fox News. [the network] It can lose its base, which could be detrimental to profitability. 

Although there may be some institutional resistance, the business is small. It is almost invisible. The reaction from analysts and investors to the merger has been negative. It’s been quite a headache. Why would you want to add a bunch UK and Australian newspapers to it, and dilute the earnings from this amazing machine that is Fox? 

Lachlan would prefer to make the whole thing private and not have it listed. I believe he would privatize the entire thing if he could find a partner.

Fox News is so controversial it’s hard to imagine who could be a natural partner or buyer. The Wall Street Journal is a sellable asset, regardless of when it happens.

Lachlan made two major investments in Australia during his time as a professional. The other was Nova, a commercial radio station that he kept private but is a huge cash cow. 

Another was Channel 10, which was bankrupted and eventually sold to CBS. It was then publicly listed. Lachlan and his advisors, like Siobhan McKenna who was his right-hand person — they got buckets of negative coverage over Channel 10 and almost no coverage over Nova. And they look at that and say that’s a function of the fact that one is publicly listed and subject to scrutiny from analysts, the investor community, and the media — and the other is private. It doesn’t matter to anyone. 

I believe they would like to find structure and a solution that takes Fox News and takes News Corporation off of the market. 

What do YOU think about Lachlan’s personal politics? How does it influence Fox News?

I believe he cannot afford or feels that he is unable to invest in the business as it’s earning too much. He isn’t willing to interfere with the formula that makes him and his family so much money. 

[However,] the siblings are quite determined to bring that business back — to focus on, for example, enhancing democracy. I was asked this question during the January 6th Committee hearings. The siblings think Fox News played a destructive role and need to be brought back into the middle.

Are they able to do this?

Rupert is still here. 

Let me know what Lachlan thinks of his father.

One of the things I picked up — you constantly hear people make comments that James is the brilliant one or Liz is the brilliant one — I think in some ways Lachlan’s been underestimated. In the sense that he was a fairly average student, he is quite similar to Rupert. 

He is less risk-averse and sees himself as more an operator than an investor. And he refuses to overpay — I got that message loud and clear. I’m not sure he would have completed the Dow Jones acquisition. Rupert was criticised for paying too much [$5 billion] At the time. 

Lachlan’s most proud deals are those that involve, for instance, real estate. [with REA, and Australian digital real estate company] — they’ve probably invested the better part of a hundred million in that business now, but it’s worth billions. That’s something Lachlan should be proud of.  

Fox has made modest acquisitions with a small outlay and then grown them organically — like Tubi or Credible Labs. He hasn’t pursued the big-bang corporate activity until now, when this merger’s being floated. 

What do you think of the possibility of a merger?

It makes sense to recombine all media assets as soon as you begin disassembling News Corporation. It’s a weird beast, especially when you look at REA Group which owns [real estate site] Move.com is a major contributor to the listed entity’s value. Then there’s Dow Jones, which can be a profit engine and this grab bag of assets, ranging from the New York Post, the Times of London, to the Australian newspapers, and to pay-TV operator Foxtel. 

It’s likely that it’s more about Lachlan’s control. I think it’s another chapter in the succession story where Lachlan will emerge as the executive chairman of the combined entity — I’m speculating — and that there will be a hired CEO from outside the family.

If the merger occurs, you should think about the long-term and who will be running the company. [News Corp CEO] Robert Thomson will likely retire. Suzanne Scott. Fox News remains the beating profit, heartbeat of Fox cooperation. It’s not difficult to praise her financially. However, I am unsure if she will continue to be the Fox News CEO beyond her current contract.