LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK—Fox Corporation and News Corporation have announced that Rupert Murdoch will be stepping down as chairman of each board.

Following a career that began nearly 70 years ago in 1954, Murdoch will step down as chairman and be appointed chairman emeritus Fox Corporation as of the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of each company in mid-November. 

Following the Annual General Meetings, Lachlan Murdoch will become sole chair of News Corp and continue as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation, the companies reported. 

“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. “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. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”

During his career, Murdoch founded Fox as the fourth broadcast network in the U.S. as well as such popular cable networks as Fox News and FX. His companies became the dominant pay TV operator in the U.K. with Sky. and launched large satellite pay TV operations in the U.S., Latin America and various European markets. 

The Murdoch families continue to control Fox and News Corp. and Lachlan Murdoch had been tipped in recent years as the most likely successor to his father. 

A timeline of Rupert Murdoch’s career is available at www.foxcorporation.com/rupert-murdoch. 

NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES—The Fox Corporation has announced that the company’s board of directors received a letter from Rupert Murdoch withdrawing the proposal to explore a potential combination of Fox and News Corporation.

The idea had come under fire from some major shareholders after it was first proposed in October of 2022. 

In withdrawing the proposal, Rupert Murdoch indicated that he and Lachlan K. Murdoch had determined that a combination is not optimal for the shareholders of Fox and News Corp at this time, Fox reported.

LOS ANGELES--Shareholders for the Walt Disney Co. and 21 Century Fox quickly approved their estimated $71.3 billion merger on Friday in a deal that could radically alter the media landscape.

The voting process, which took less than 15 minutes, ended a dramatic dealmaking process that involved rival bids from Comcast that jacked up the price nearly $19 billion since News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch made his initial offer of $52 billion in December. In the merger, Disney will acquire Fox’s television and movie studio, cable television channels FX and National Geographic, a stake in streaming service Hulu, television operations in India and Fox’s 39 percent stake in London-based pay-TV company Sky. 

Under the amended agreement, Disney will pay $35 billion in cash and distribute about 343 million shares of new Disney stock to 21st Century Fox shareholders, who will end up owning approximately 20 percent of Disney. Fox shareholders can elect to receive $38 per share or cash in Disney. The overall mix of consideration paid to 21st Century Fox shareholders will be approximately 50 percent cash and 50 percent stock.

Although the merger has already receive DOJ approval late last month with the sale of some regional sports networks, the deal is not expected to be approved until next year, since it faces additional regulatory approval from foreign governments. Disney said it is raising approximately $34 billion to help finance the transaction.

The acquisition will occur immediately after the spin-off by 21st Century Fox of the Fox Broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2 and Big Ten Network into a newly listed company referred to as New Fox. If 21st Century Fox completes its acquisition of the 61 percent of Sky it doesn’t already own prior to closing of the Disney acquisition, Disney would assume full ownership of Sky, including the assumption of its outstanding debt, upon closing.

Among other plans, Disney will use the acquisition to take on rivals Netflix and Amazon with a Disney-branded streaming video on demand service that will feature Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars films along with a host of exclusive original content and library titles service in late 2019. Disney will also take a controlling stake in Hulu..

“We’re incredibly pleased that shareholders of both companies have granted approval for us to move forward, and are confident in our ability to create significant long-term value through this acquisition of Fox’s premier assets,” said Disney Chairma/CEO Bob Iger. “We remain grateful to Rupert Murdoch and to the rest of the 21st Century Fox board for entrusting us with the future of these extraordinary businesses, and look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox’s stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options.”