A closer look at the real life succession at Fox
and News Corp Rupert Murdoch spent decades building an international
empire,
in the process forcing massive changes in media and in
politics.
Now, at 92, Murdoch says he will step aside.
His son Lachlan is taking over as chairman of those
two companies.
But as Jolene Kent reports,
this is not likely to be the end of Rupert
Murdoch.
He's one of the most powerful media magnets of the
modern era.
And now Rupert Murdoch, stepping aside at Fox and News
Corp comes more than 70 years after he got his
start in Australia.
Inheriting a local newspaper from his father,
it was the first of many moves that redefine the
media landscape Began to have an entirely different approach.
Murdoch built a sprawling international empire across 3 continents,
starting Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986.
And Fox News Channel, 10 years later,
we put a different viewpoint,
if you like. I would say we were fair and
balanced.
But critics have said that his companies,
typically conservative viewpoints, have not been fair or balanced.
Most recently, in the case of a defamation lawsuit by
voting machine maker Dominion,
Fox settled with the company for 787 and a half
million dollars,
acknowledging a judge's ruling that Fox News made false claims
about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
That also leading to the ouster of their primetime anchor
Tucker Carlson.
We need to find out exactly what happened in this
election,
but Murdoch shows no signs of sitting back in retirement
and an internal memo obtained by CBS News.
Murdoch said he is in good health and told his
employees in part.
In my new role, I can guarantee you that I
will be involved every day.
You can expect to see me in the office late
on a Friday afternoon.
This is not the end.
The media scion loosely inspired the Emmy winning HBO series
Succession.
No one was going to watch network except you give
it Zing,
and they do. And now Murdoch's own succession is unfolding
in real time.
His son Laughlin will become the sole chair of both
Fox and News Corp in November,
a move that Murdoch other children could contest.
When he dies. Laughlin, if anything,
more conservative than his father,
and he's well liked. NPR's David Folkenflik is the author
of Murdoch's World,
a biography of the tycoon's career.
Why is this happening right now?
Rupert Murdoch's 92 years old.
He's had a number of health scares in recent years.
They're also emerging from a season of crisis and scandal.
Doesn't want to surprise investors.
They want to make everything seem as though it's smooth
and intentional.
For CBS mornings, I'm Jolene Kent.