Rupert Murdoch could’ve eased into a well-heeled retirement in the past decade, quietly slipping away to one of his many properties and handing over the reins to son James, who, until the past two weeks, appeared to be his heir apparent.
Instead, the 80-year-old has remained News Corporation CEO, recently experiencing what he called “the most humble day of my life” on Tuesday when he was hauled in front of British MPs to answer questions about his newspapers’ phone hacking exploits.
Murdoch’s hesitant performance, which at times bordered on the excruciating, highlighted serious flaws in the way his company is run.
Indeed, as Taskmaster pointed out this week, News Corp’s lack of transparency, accountability and risk management is a warning to all aspirational start-ups.
However, as divisive as Murdoch has proved even before the phone hacking outrage, it’s impossible to deny that he has been a towering figure in the business world.
Below, we’ve picked out 10 of the best moments of a career that, until recently, would’ve been proudly aped by any budding entrepreneur. Whether he will be remembered as a pioneer or pariah remains to be seen.
Murdoch inherited Adelaide newspaper The News when he was just 21-years-old, following his father’s death in 1952.
His drive helped raise the title’s ad revenue and circulation and he embarked upon a period of growth via acquisition. He bought the Sunday Times in Perth and a host of provincial papers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
Using the tabloid techniques he’d seen in the UK while studying at Oxford, Murdoch bought under-performing titles at knock-down rates and turned them into profit-making publications.
Murdoch made headway with a tabloid approach but it wasn’t until he launched The Australian that his reputation as a serious media player was forged.
The Australian became the country’s first newspaper in 1964 and although it burned through several early editors due to Murdoch’s interference, it was clear that he had the ambition and vision to build an empire.
Murdoch’s ruthlessness as a negotiator and calculation of risk helped pave his overseas expansion in 1969, when he finally prised The News of the World from the Carr family.
The paper, which was recently closed following the phone hacking scandal, was acquired after a year-long struggle between Murdoch and fellow newspaper magnate Robert Maxwell.
Murdoch effectively mortgaged all of his Australian assets to buy the newspaper, which was in the midst of a circulation dip. He also promised to work in partnership with the Carr family. The gamble paid off, although Maxwell grumbled that Murdoch used the “laws of the jungle” to get the newspaper.
The Sun was a loss-making broadsheet before Murdoch made it his second overseas purchase a year after the News of the World.
He realised that his tabloid formula could be replicated with The Sun, turning it into a successful mass-market sensationalist publication. But there was a shrewd operational reason to buy The Sun – Murdoch’s printing presses were idle for six days of the week and it made sense to buy a weekly title to maximise the equipment’s return.
While he came relatively late to TV and the internet, Murdoch quickly embraced new technology when it came to his newspapers.
He introduced electronic production processes to all of his titles in 1986, streamlining his workforce and putting him on a collision course with British printing unions.
In a surprise move, Murdoch secretly shifted the company’s operations to the London district of Wapping, wrong-footing the often violent protests and breaking the resistance of the unions.
