He is the Founder, Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation, the global media holding company. It is the 2nd largest media conglomerate in the world which was split into News Corp & 21st Century Fox on 28 June 2013.
The Early Years
Rupert Murdoch was born Australian and grew up in the country too. He was attending Oxford University in 1952 when his father, Keith Murdoch the wealthy newspaperman died. This was when he returned to Australia and took over the reins of his family business at the young age of 22. He started managing the ‘Sunday Mail’ as well as the ‘The News’. Before long, he had converted the latter into a newspaper which was dominated by sex & scandal news- most of the banner headlines were written by him too.
The Formula of Success
The newspaper significantly grew in popularity and its circulation soared. This was when he started incorporating similar changes in the various newspapers he acquired in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. In 1969, he acquired his 1st British newspaper- the ‘News of the World’ (a Sunday Newspaper). By this time he had put together an effective and proven formula to boost circulation- It was a simple formula; one that relied on crime, scandal, sex, prolific sports reporting, human-interest stories that had boldface headlines and outspokenly conservative editorializing. This particular formula proved to be highly successful with “The Sun”, a daily that he acquired the next year.
An Illustrious Career
Over the years, Murdoch acquired even more news interests across Australia, China, Europe and the U.S. Today his News Corporation is an international media conglomerate which includes TV, online services, feature films, newspapers & books. Its holdings include the popular Fox TV Network (includes Fox News), 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins Books, The New York Post, The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal.
Murdoch’s illustrious career has spanned more than six decades and he is as dynamic today as he was in his twenties. His influence on the global media has stayed steady over the years and he literally owns the news. He has also been honoured with the Order of Australia & the Order of St. Gregory the Great.