Did 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch step down due to age?

Key points:

• Rupert Murdoch, 92, has stepped down from his role as executive chairman of News Corp

• Although the mogul has stepped down from his position, he will remain the Chairman Emeritus of News Corp and Fox, as noted in a letter to staff

• Rupert’s son, Lachlan Keith Murdoch, 52, is the sole chair of his father’s News Corp empire

Founder of News Corp, Sky and Fox News, controversial Australian-American business magnate Rupert Murdoch has stepped down from his role as executive chairman of News Corp at the age of 92 years old.

Although the news media mogul will remain Chairman Emeritus of News Corp and Fox, meaning that his involvement in the company will still guide its future, Rupert’s son, Lachlan Murdoch, will inherit the title as sole chair.

As first reported in the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal, the patriarch reflected on his 70-year career, which started in Adelaide during the early 1950s, in a note to staff:

“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,” the letter stated.

“Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community.

“My father firmly believed in freedom and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose.

“Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”

For reference, Rupert Murdoch’s net worth was estimated to be $17.4 billion USD, or $27.14 billion Australian dollars, as of 2023 and Murdoch’s vociferous political opinions have reportedly been a source of partisan alignment in media coverage.

This brings us to the debate of what age is considered old?

Although some experts have commented on Murdoch’s age as a possible motive for stepping down, the 92-year-old may have ulterior motives.

As per exclusive reporting from The Guardian, the mogul had anticipated a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the U.S. 2020 Presidential Election, which was later settled for $797.5m USD.

Fox News is also facing a $2.7bn USD damages claim from Smartmatic, another voting machine manufacturer.

Rupert Murdoch’s reputation has also served as a serious source of contention in Australia, as former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has advocated for a Royal Commission into media diversity, co-signed by former PM Malcolm Turnbull.

Most recently, the hit television series Succession took aim at the ageing industry titan, infusing both the themes of mass media monopoly and ardent interest in public influence in Bryan Cox’s portrayal of the character Logan Roy. Members from the cast of Succession have previously hinted at the show’s real-life counterparts attesting to its relevance. 

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