Rupert Murdoch: What does he own and what will his UK legacy be after standing down from Fox and News Corp?

After years at the helm of two media companies - Fox and News Corp - Rupert Murdoch has announced he is stepping down as chairman and retiring at the age of 92. The Australian-born business magnate is one the richest men in the world and owns a series of companies that have helped his empire take shape.

With business interests in the UK, US, Australia, and other places - Murdoch's reach within the news and publishing industries is unmatched.

But a new era has been ushered in as Murdoch's son - Lachlan Murdoch - will take over the helm at both News Corp and Fox. After a lifetime in news, Murdoch will finally walk away while keeping the business in the family.

In a memo to employees, he said: “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, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole Chairman of both companies.”

What does the Murdoch family own?

After Murdoch's father died in 1952, he took over control of The News - an Adelaide-based newspaper before acquiring other titles in Australia and New Zealand.

In 1969, he made his first move to the UK by taking over the now-defunct News of the World and then The Sun soon after.

Through his company News Corp, Murdoch owns hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world.

In the UK, this includes major national newspapers The Sun, The Times, The Sun on Sunday, and The Sunday Times.

Until 2018, Murdoch also owned Sky in the UK before it was sold to Comcast.

In his native Australia, Murdoch has his hands on The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, and The Australian. Rupert Murdoch still owns Sky News Australia too.

While over in the US where Murdoch has been a citizen since 1985, he owns The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in terms of newspapers and Fox News broadcasting channels. He also owned 21st Century Fox until 2019.

What is Rupert Murdoch worth?

Rupert Murdoch's career in the media industry has helped him accumulate a net worth of around $17.4 billion (£14 billion)

According to Forbes, he is the 96th richest man in the world.

What is News Corp & Fox worth?

News Corp has a market cap that stands at $11.37 billion and revenue that totals $9.88 billion.

Fox Corporation has a market cap of around $15.11 billion and its revenue in 2022 was $13.97 billion.

What is his legacy in the UK?

Murdoch is known for having turned The Sun into a tabloid paper and he is known to have been largely supportive of Thatcher's government in the 1980s and also with Blair's Labour government during the initial period of his time in power.

One of Murdoch's greatest success stories remains turning around the fortunes of Sky.

After massive losses in its early years, Sky was heavily subsidised by the profits generated by its other businesses and a merger with British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990 formed the company BSkyB.

BSkyB would go on to dominate the pay-TV market in the UK with direct-to-home satellite broadcasting.

By 1996, BSkyB had more than 3.6 million subscribers, triple the number of cable customers in the UK.

In 2011, Murdoch gave testimony before a UK parliamentary committee regarding phone hacking.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons served a summons on Murdoch, his son James, and his former CEO Rebekah Brooks to testify before a committee five days later.

The Murdochs eventually attended despite some fightback. In his defence, Murdoch said that since he ran a global business of 53,000 employees and that News of the World formed a fraction of this, he was not ultimately responsible for what was printed.

He has maintained that he was completely unaware of any phone hacking methods.

A more recent part of his legacy is how Murdoch's Eurosceptic views formed the basis of The Sun's campaigning during the 'Vote Leave' campaign at the time of the Brexit referendum.

When speaking to the Guardian, Murdoch was quoted saying “When I go into Downing Street, they do what I say; when I go to Brussels, they take no notice.”

However, Murdoch denies using the quote and in a letter to the Guardian, he said: “On a number of occasions now your paper has quoted me as saying: ‘When I go into Downing Street, they do what I say; when I go to Brussels, they take no notice.’

“There is much fake news published about me, but let me make clear that I have never uttered those words. I have made it a principle all my life never to ask for anything from any prime minister.”