By Helen Coster and Aditya Soni
(Reuters) -Rupert Murdoch has stepped 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.
His son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become the sole chairman of News Corp and continue as the chair and CEO of Fox, the companies said on Thursday. The transition solidifies Lachlan’s role as the leader of the media empire, putting to rest questions of succession within the Murdoch family.
The news comes just months after Murdoch, 92, scrapped a plan that would have reunited his media empire by merging Fox and News Corp.
Murdoch, who has near-controlling stakes in both companies, will be appointed chairman emeritus of both the companies.
In a memo to staff Thursday, Murdoch wrote: “Our companies are in robust health, as am I.”
Murdoch, who has six children, has long desired his children to eventually take the reins of the empire. His son James had been CEO of Twenty-First Century Fox prior to the company’s decision to sell its film and television assets to Walt Disney Co for $71.3 billion, a deal that closed in 2019.
James then channeled proceeds from the deal into a private investment firm, Lupa Systems. Lachlan was appointed CEO of the new Fox Corp.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Nick Zieminski)
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