Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 89, currently married to Jerry Hall, has six children by three different women, with their ages ranging from 62 (his eldest daughter Prudence Murdoch by first wife, Patricia Booker) down to 17 (Chloe, Murdoch’s youngest child with ex-wife Wendi Deng).
However, in 2016, the obvious successors to his media throne are were middle-born children were Lachlan, 48, and James, 47.
Both Lachlan and James worked with disgraced CEO of Fox News Channel Roger Ailes, who was forced to resigned in July of 2016 after allegations of sexual assault were made by 23 women.
Ailes dubbed the pair ‘dilettantes and boneheads’, who profited off the hard work of others and grew up ‘with a silver spoon in their mouth’ – but it was the brothers who were eventually able to force him out of the company.
Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan became the CEO of Fox News in a reshuffle after he had abruptly quit back in 2005, leaving Roger Ails to take position of acting CEO of News Corp’s group of television stations
The middle child in the three siblings, Lachlan has been dubbed ‘charming’ and was even called ‘the Prince’.
In 1989, Murdoch brought Lachlan, then 18, to Australia to spend three months training at The Daily Mirror in Sydney.
At the age of 22, Lachlan was appointed general manager of Queensland Newspapers and soon after was appointed Deputy CEO of News Limited, one of Australia’s largest media conglomerates.
In 1999 Murdoch married British-born model/actress Sarah O’Hare. They have two sons, Kalan and Alexander, and one daughter, Aerin Elisabeth.
A year later, he began working at News Corporation in New York, where he spent years working under his father and for the year 2001, he reportedly earned a salary of $2.59 million.
In 1999 Murdoch married British-born model/actress Sarah O’Hare.They have two sons, Kalan Alexander,and one daughter, Aerin Elisabeth. The couple are pictured attending an Oscars after party in 2019
However after abruptly resigning in 2005 at the age of 33, Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News Channel, was named chairman of News Corp’s group of television stations.
Before Lachlan rejoined the family fold in 2014, his near-decade away from News Corp had both success and failure, with his purchase of DMG Radio a triumph, while his Australian channel, Network Ten went into voluntary administration in 2017.
In March 2014 Lachlan returned to the family fold and was appointed as non-executive co-chairman of News Corp, however it was reported he had a rocky relationship with Ailes from the outset.
The relationship between Lachlan and his father has run hot and cold over the years, but that all changed back in 2014 when Murdoch’s older son returned to New York to work for News Corp.
Lachlan became the CEO of Fox News in a reshuffle in 2018, and is now the Chairman and CEO of the Fox Corporation.
James Murdoch
Youngest son James, now 47, was considered one of the brightest of Murdoch’s children growing up, but was considered to be somewhat of a rebel. He is pictured with his father in 2013
Younger son James, now 47, was considered one of the brightest of Murdoch’s children growing up, but was considered to be somewhat of a rebel.
This is best reflected perhaps by the start of his media career, running rap label Rawkus Records, a dominant label in the underground hip-hop scene , established by pals Brian Brater and Jarret Myer, with his father’s financial backing.
But his music career was short-lived, and in 1998, Rupert’s News Corporation bought a majority of the record label and James was soon back in the fold.
The youngest of the three siblings has arguably been the most loyal, staying by his father’s side for decades after joining News Corp – shortly after he dropped out of Harvard.
In recent years, the father-of-three, married to climate activist wife Kathryn, has been increasingly vocal against Fox News and other News Corporation outlets. The couple are pictured in New York in 2018
Following the surprise resignation of his brother from his executive positions at News Corporation in July 2005, James was widely viewed as his father’s heir-apparent.
James was the chairman and CEO of Sky PLC for Europe and Asia, where he oversaw assets such as The News of the World and in 2011, was forced to announce the closure of the paper in wake of a phone-hacking scandal.
The 2012 Leveson Inquiry said that Murdoch ‘showed wilful ignorance of the extent of phone-hacking’ and found him ‘guilty of an astonishing lack of curiosity’ over the issue.
The following February, the company said he would step down from NewsCorp’s British Newspaper arm, but remain deputy chief operating officer and focus on the company’s international TV business.
Since his brother became CEO of Fox News in 2018 in a major reshuffle, James has worked at the helm of the investment fund Lupa Systems but retains a seat on the board of News Corp.
Leaving Fox wasn’t an entirely bad move though, he became $2 billion richer thanks to his shares in the company.
In recent years, the father-of-three, married to climate activist wife Kathryn, has been increasingly vocal against Fox News and other News Corporation outlets including of coverage by the organisation on the Australian forest fires in 2019.