Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, announced on Thursday that he is stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp, BBC reported. His son Lachlan Murdoch will become the sole chairman of News Corp and continue as the chair and CEO of Fox. The elder Murdoch will now lead the two businesses as chairman emeritus, the New York Times reported.
''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, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies,'' Mr. Murdoch wrote in a memo to employees, as reported by CNN.
''Neither excessive pride nor false humility are admirable qualities. But I am truly proud of what we have achieved collectively through the decades, and I owe much to my colleagues, whose contributions to our success have sometimes been unseen outside the company but are deeply appreciated by me,'' he wrote.
''On behalf of the Fox and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,'' said Lachlan Murdoch in a statement.
Notably, Mr. Murdoch launched Fox News in 1996 as a startup competitor to CNN and eventually became the number one cable news channel in the United States.
According to Forbes, Mr. Murdoch is believed to have a fortune of around $17 billion. His empire includes Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and a string of other media assets around the world.
The media mogul has six children from his first three marriages. He was married to Jerry Hall for six years. Prior to that, he was married to Wendi Deng from 1999 to 2013, Anna Maria Torv from 1967 to 1999; and Patricia Booker from 1956 to 1967.
