Rupert Murdoch steps down as chairman of Fox

Al Jazeera :
Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as the chairman of Fox Corp and News Corp, ending a more than seven-decade career during which he created a media empire spanning from Australia to the United States.

Murdoch’s son Lachlan will become the sole chairman of News Corp and continue as chairman and CEO of Fox, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

“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,” Lachlan Murdoch said.

Murdoch, who has near-controlling stakes in both companies, will be appointed chairman emeritus when his resignation comes into force at a November shareholders’ general meeting.

Thursday’s announcement comes just months after Murdoch, 92, scrapped a plan that would have reunited his media empire by merging Fox and News Corp.

It also comes after Fox reached a $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in April over allegations that the network deliberately pushed false claims about the Colorado-based company and its role in the 2020 US presidential election.

Murdoch has drawn criticism over the years from some human rights advocates in the US and other countries who say the right-wing media empire he established has fuelled political polarisation.

Besides Fox News, Murdoch started the Fox broadcast network, the first to successfully challenge the Big Three networks in the US – ABC, CBS and NBC.

He also is owner of The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.