Who is Lachlan Murdoch and how many sons does Rupert Murdoch have?
Rupert Murdoch is leaving News Corp. leaving one of his sons to take over his media empire.
The media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, has stepped down as chair of News Corp and Fox Corp. As he departs from both companies, his eldest son, Lachlan, has been tapped to take over.
How many children does Rupert Murdoch have?
Rupert Murdoch has six children: Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, James, Grace, and Chloe.
Prudence is Murdoch’s eldest daughter and only child from his first marriage to Patricia Booker. His subsequent three children, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James, were born to his second wife, Anna Torv, a journalist whom he met when she was working in Sydney. Grace and Chloe, who are significantly younger than his other children, born in 2001 and 2003, respectively, were born to Murdoch’s third wife, Wendi Deng.
Who could take over now that Rupert Murdoch has stepped down?
Lachlan Murdoch, 52, is who many speculate is at the top of the list to step into his father’s shoes. Currently, Lachlan serves as executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, co-chairman of News Corp, and executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation.
However, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James have or do hold positions within the Murdoch media landscape.
Prudence sits on the board of Times Newspapers Ltd, and Elisabeth’s television broadcasting service, Shine, was acquired by News Corp in 2013. From 2015 to 2019, James served as CEO of 21st Century Fox after his father stepped down from the role. However, his tenure ended when the company was sold to Disney. In 2020, James also parted ways with News Corp., stepping down from his seat on the board and writing in his resignation letter that he had “disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.”