Rupert K. Murdoch
Chairman and Chief Executive

BIOGRAPHY:
This profile probably seems more like a biography of Rupert Murdoch than of News Corporation. However, News Corporation and Rupert Murdoch are synonymous with each other. I would not be able to do this report without discussing Rupert Murdoch. Whether good or bad, News Corporation is a product of Murdoch.

Rupert K. Murdoch was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in 1931. He attended Oxford but was came home to Australia when his father became ill. After his father's death, Murdoch inherited two small Australian newspapers, The Adelaide News and the Sunday Times. Murdoch showed his natural gift in business by rapidly increasing the revenue of the papers. In the 1960's Murdoch began purchasing newspapers in Great Britain. He purchased the News of the World and The Sun. However, these papers quickly became sensationalist magazine geared towards low-brow entertainment rather than information. In the 1970's Murdoch began purchasing newspapers and magazines in the United States. In 1976 he acquired The New York Post. During the 1970's, he also formed The Star, another tabloid magazine. [This information was taken from "Business and Money" on the BBC website.]

In the 1980's Murdoch began making purchases in the telecommunications industry. In the 1985 Murdoch purchased 50% of 20th Century Fox and Metromedia's independent television stations. Murdoch had established the first broadcast television network since the 1950's. His company, News Corporation has had its ups and downs. In the early nineties, the company almost collapsed. However, thanks to many loans being forgiven, News Corporation was able to continue. In 1996, Murdoch launched a cable news network to compete with CNN.

Murdoch is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his time. News Corporation is often thought as being controlled by this one man. Rupert Murdoch owns about 30% of the ordinary shares of the company. The Forbes 400 richest Americans list ranks Murdoch as the 28th richest man in America (Forbes.com). According to the list, Murdoch is worth over five billion dollars (Forbes.com).  Like the Charles Foster Kane, Rupert Murdoch is a man of contradictions. He has many conservative beliefs yet his channels are often pushing traditional conventions of television viewers' morality. Fox did bring us The Simpsons, Married with Children, and Man Versus Beast. Critics have accused Murdoch of aiding in the dumbing down in media. Afterall, isn't it arduous to accept a serious new network from a guy who owns several tabloid magazines and was responsible for many tabloid television programs? Some love him, some hate him. Yet, he is undeniably fascinating and affluent.

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