Scandalous, influential, powerful, billionaire, media magnate – these are just some of the words to describe the perplexing man that is Rupert Murdoch. His life, scandals and stories will be played out this month with the Sydney premiere of the David Williams play, Rupert, a production that explores the life of ‘The Man Who Owns the News’.
In a career that has spanned over 60 years, Murdoch is showing no signs of slowing down. Despite his old age, Murdoch is still as busy as he ever was in his glory days. Here are some of the high profile stories involving the media mogul this year:
Top of the Food Chain
Murdoch’s fortune grew from $9.13 billion in 2013 to $12.61 billion this year and he was named as the wealthiest person in BRW’s Executive Rich List. Just to give you an idea, his fortune is worth more than the rest of the top five combined. The Murdoch empire was also deemed the 32nd on Forbes 2014 list of Powerful People, a step up from his 33rd spot in 2013.
Acquittal of Phone Hacking Charges
The Murdoch Empire have demonstrated a remarkable recovery after the News Corp phone hacking scandal of 2012, coming out relatively unscathed during the trials this year. Rebekah Brooks, former head of the Murdoch British newspaper empire was acquitted of all charges in the phone hacking trial in June.
Time Warner Takeover
Murdoch put in an $80 billion bid with 21st Century Fox to takeover Time Warner, a media mega deal that was scrapped at the last minute. The takeover was being touted as the crowning deal of his media career, however, Time Warner rejected the ‘hostile takeover’. Murdoch has himself released a statement saying, “Time Warner management and its board refused to engage with us to explore an offer which was highly compelling.”
Big Bucks Divorce
The divorce between Murdoch and his former wife of 14 years, Wendi Deng, is being finalised in courts, with the battle coming to an amicable end. Murdoch filed for divorce in June 2013 and hit a roadblock in proceedings about splitting their homes in New York and China, and custody arrangements for their two girls.
Print Falls
In Australia the Murdoch empire was reported to be in decline this year after the rapidly declining advertising and circulation revenue of News Corp newspapers. Publications such as The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Courier Mail showed such a decline in revenue and operating income that financial circles are concerned News Corp Newspapers will struggle to break even this financial year.
Twitter Attacks
Murdoch took to Twitter to defend the new blockbuster for 20th Century Fox, Exodus: Gods and Kings for casting a number of white actors as Egyptians, tweeting: “Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast. Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are.”
All in all, Murdoch has quite the busy year, from court proceedings, to social media, to major media takeovers and everything in between. (SOC)
Written by Shauna O’Carroll
