“Rupert Murdoch: The Life of a Billionaire”

Overview

Rupert Murdoch is a global media mogul who is renowned for his massive media empire. He is a billionaire with a net worth of $19.7 billion, according to Forbes. Murdoch serves as the Chairman and CEO of News Corp, a company that owns some of the world’s most prominent media organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and HarperCollins. He gained widespread attention for his immense media influence and his controversial political views.

Early Life and Education

Keith Rupert Murdoch was born on March 11, 1931, in Melbourne, Australia, to parents Keith Murdoch and Elisabeth Joy Greene. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended Geelong Grammar School, where he was an excellent athlete, student, and debater. Murdoch entered the University of Oxford in 1952 to study politics, philosophy, and economics but left after two years without earning a degree.

Career and Achievements

In 1952, Rupert Murdoch inherited The News, a newspaper owned by his father, Keith Murdoch. After his father’s death, Murdoch took over the paper’s management and started overhauling its content, style, and distribution system. He transformed it into a more populist and fast-paced newspaper that focused on breaking news, sensational stories, and exclusive scoops. In 1960, Murdoch acquired The Daily Mirror, a publication that was in peril, and managed it better than anyone else at the time. He eventually bought other newspapers like The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times, making News Corp the primary media entity in the UK.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Murdoch expanded his media empire into television, creating Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox News, and he acquired Sky TV, now known as Sky News. In 2005, he acquired Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, making News Corp responsible for one of the most influential financial news sources.

Despite his success, Murdoch has had his fair share of controversies. He has been criticized for his newspapers’ biased coverage, using his media outlets to advance his political interests, and unethical practices like phone hacking and bribing officials.

Personal Life

Rupert Murdoch has been married four times, and he has six children. He was married to Anna Torv, a Scottish journalist, from 1956 to 1967, and they had three children together: Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James Murdoch. In 1967, he married Estelle Kantor, and they had one child, Prudence Murdoch. Murdoch’s third marriage was to Wendi Deng, a Chinese-born American entrepreneur, but they divorced in 2013. Murdoch married his current wife, Jerry Hall, an American model and actress, in 2016.

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