On 21 September 2023, media titan Rupert Murdoch announced that his son, Lachlan Murdoch, would now head the empire he built. As such, the younger Murdoch became the new chairman of News Corporation (News Corp.) while serving his current roles as executive chairman and chief executive officer of the sister company Fox Corporation (Fox Corp.). Of course, the change at the top ensures that Lachlan Murdoch might see a rise in his net worth as a media mogul.
Rupert Murdoch, who is 92 years old, will also step aside from the board and serve as chairman emeritus of both companies. The formal decision to crown Lachlan ends a long succession drama, which, reportedly, inspired HBO’s acclaimed TV show Succession (2018–2023).
Lachlan Murdoch is the third child and eldest son of Rupert Murdoch. Lachlan’s siblings include older half-sister Prudence, older sister Elisabeth, younger brother James and younger half-sisters Grace and Chloe.
Lachlan was born in England on 8 September 1971. He was educated at private schools in the US and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Princeton University in 1994. He is married to British-Australian model and TV presenter Sarah O’Hare since 1999 and has three children.
Although Lachlan Murdoch was the chosen successor, conflicts in the family, especially a bitter relationship between Lachlan and his brother James, were apparent. Lachlan himself left his father’s side in 2005 to chart his own path before returning in 2014.
“It’s like the royal family,” Alan Knight, professor of journalism at the University of Technology in Sydney, told Reuters in 2014 when Lachlan came back into the Murdoch fold.
“Murdoch senior has always treated News Corp as a family business and this guy [Lachlan] is just basically accepting his inheritance,” he added.
All about Lachlan Murdoch, the empire and his net worth
Rupert Murdoch’s companies that Lachlan now heads
At the age of 22, Rupert Murdoch began building his media empire in 1952 when he inherited a small Australian newspaper, The News, upon the death of his father, Sir Keith Murdoch. By 2023, the senior Murdoch sat at the helm of some of the world’s most important newspapers, broadcast networks, publishing houses and other media entities in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
According to Forbes, the net worth of Rupert Murdoch and his family is around USD 17 billion, as of 29 September 2023. Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates that Murdoch’s personal net worth is around USD 8 billion.
Rupert Murdoch created the original News Corp. in 1980 as the holding company of all the media entities he owned. It was headquartered in Adelaide, Australia until it was moved to the US in 2004.
The original News Corp. was split into 21st Century Fox and the current News Corp. in 2013.
In 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox and some other key assets of the Fox brand of entertainment businesses for USD 71.3 billion. The deal led to the departure of several Fox-owned entertainment entities, such as the Marvel characters Deadpool, X-Men, and Fantastic Four as well as the animated sitcom Simpsons.
It also led to the formation of Fox Corp., with assets mainly in television broadcast, news and sports broadcasting.
The News Corp. currently owns The Sun, The Times, The Australian, Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph, Page Six, REA, Realtor.com, several businesses under News Corp Australia, and book publisher HarperCollins among several other major or minor publications and sites through various companies. It also owns Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the stock market index Dow Jones and the prestigious financial newspaper The Wall Street Journal.
Fox Corp. owns Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News, Fox Business, and the national operations of Fox Sports and Tubi Media Group.
Lachlan Murdoch’s businesses in Australia
Lachlan Murdoch joined his father’s empire and served in a number of senior executive roles from 1994 to 2005. In 2000, he was made the deputy chief operating officer (COO) of the then News Corp.
Within this role, he became the chairman of Fox Television Stations (FTS) and publisher of the New York Post — both of which witnessed tremendous growth under his leadership. He served as deputy COO till 2005 when he abruptly parted ways with his father’s empire to go on his own.
He had already been involved in acquisitions and creations of media entities in Australia while working to increase his father’s empire. However, Lachlan Murdoch established a firmer footing Down Under after stepping down from News Corp.
In 2005, he founded the successful private investment company Illyria in Australia and, through it, initially acquired 50 per cent of the radio station network DMG Radio for around USD 86 million.
DMG Radio was subsequently renamed NOVA Entertainment. The remaining 50 per cent was fully acquired by Illyria in 2012. Murdoch serves as the executive chairman of NOVA Entertainment and, under him, the business has become Australia’s No.1 network of FM stations.
He also bought a 9 per cent stake in regional free-to-air television company Prime Media Group Ltd in 2009. Three years later, he sold his stake for a profit of USD 10 million.
In 2010, he purchased a 9 per cent stake from billionaire James Packer to gain a foothold in Ten Network Holdings. When he returned to the US to become the non-executive co-chairman of entertainment company 21st Century Fox and publishing operation News Corp. in 2014, Murdoch relinquished his position as non-executive chairman of Ten to avoid conflict of interest.
But he also suffered some setbacks. Chief of these was a failed bid for pay-TV company Consolidated Media Holdings. He wanted to buy a stake in the business for USD 3 billion in a deal with Packer, who was then the chairman of the group.
Four years before his post-2005 attempt at setting himself firmly in Australia, Murdoch had lost around half a billion US dollars with the collapse of telecommunications company One.Tel, which he had co-founded with Packer.
Lachlan back in his father’s business
Once back in the US, Lachlan Murdoch was immediately seen as his father’s successor.
When he became the non-executive co-chairman of the business in 2014, Rupert Murdoch said in a statement, “This appointment is a sign of confidence in the growth potential of News Corp and a recognition of Lachlan’s entrepreneurial leadership and passion for news, digital media and sport. In this elevated role, Lachlan will help us lead News Corp forward as we expand our reach and invest in new technologies and markets around the world.”
A year later, Lachlan Murdoch was named the executive chairman at 21st Century Fox. Following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Murdoch began serving as the executive chair and CEO of Fox Corp.
What is the net worth of Lachlan Murdoch?
Lachlan Murdoch is a billionaire by net worth. In 2023, the Australian Financial Review (AFR), a major media house not part of Rupert Murdoch’s empire, estimated that Lachlan Murdoch had a net worth of AUD 3.35 billion (around USD 2.2 billion). He was placed 33rd on AFR’s rich list, with a year-on-year change in the negative of -15.3 per cent.
The junior Murdoch was certainly born into wealth and has helped increase his father’s fortune as well as his own over the years, particularly in Australia. He played a key role in News Corp’s stake in REA Group, student loans business Credible and streaming business Tubi.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Fox Corp. recorded a revenue of USD 14.9 billion in the year up to 30 June 2023.
In 2007, the Murdoch family trust announced that each of Rupert Murdoch’s six children was getting USD 100 million of News Corp stock and an additional USD 50 mn in cash.
The Murdoch family trust, according to Reuters, is what would likely create another succession battle in the future.
According to a report by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), when Rupert Murdoch divorced his second wife, Anna Torv — the mother of Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James — in 1999, she requested that only her three children and Prudence would have control over the trust upon the death of Rupert Murdoch.
The trust allows the senior Murdoch to control News Corp. and Fox Corp. through around 40 per cent stake in voting shares of each company. These voting rights will be transferred to his four children upon his death. According to Reuters, this means that if three of the children agree, the fourth can be voted out.
Since only the four children have the rights to his empire, Rupert Murdoch distributed his USD 12 billion share from the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox equally between them. As such Lachlan received USD 2 billion in Disney stock.
Details about the exact annual income of the younger Murdoch are not clear. Fox Corp’s public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that he received a base salary of USD 3 million for fiscal year 2022. Business Insider, citing the filing, said that his total compensation came to around USD 21.7 million.
Assets owned by Lachlan Murdoch
Bel-Air mansion
The most famous of all properties owned by Lachlan Murdoch is a mansion in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. The mansion’s formal name is Chartwell, but it also got the nickname ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ after its appearance as the Clampett family home in the credits of the sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971).
Murdoch purchased the property in 2019 when he was the co-chairman of News Corp., paying USD 150 million for it. At the time, it was the most expensive property sold in California’s history.
Measuring 40,470 sq metres in total area the property has a 26-room French neoclassical-style main mansion of 2,322 sq metres sitting amid expansive, manicured gardens. The main building, which looks like a European royal residence, was commissioned by civil engineer Lynn Atkinson in the 1930s and designed by the legendary American architect Sumner Spaulding.
It was acquired by Chicago and Los Angeles hotelier Arnold Kirkeby for USD 200,000 in the 1940s. Andrew Jerrold Perenchio, the chairman and CEO of Univision, bought the property in 1986 for USD 14 million. He not only renovated the entire mansion with the help of French interior designer Henri Samuel but also added three adjacent parcels of land over the next few years leading to the size of the current plot.
All three plots originally had buildings, two of which Perenchio demolished and one of which he converted into a 530-square-metre guest house. One of the plots became a mega driveway that can hold 40 cars. The other was converted into a grass-covered helipad.
Perenchio also acquired the neighbouring property which served as a residence of former US President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in 2016. Perenchio died in 2017, sometime after which the entire estate, including the Reagan home, was put up for sale for a listed price of USD 350 million before it went for far below, to Murdoch.
The main residence, which has a limestone facade, has 11 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms. The rooms were renovated in the late 1980s by French interior designer Henri Samuel. There is a ballroom with a grand piano, an 18-seat formal dining room, with mid-1700s panelled walls imported from Europe, scaled formal rooms, and a vaulted foyer. The climate-controlled wine vault has space for 12,000 bottles.
The most unique feature of the residence is its network of tunnels at the subterranean level below the main building. One of the tunnels leads to the estate’s massive swimming pool and the pool house. The other opens to the gardens and ponds. The estate also has a private redwood grove, in other words, a small forest.
The massive estate also attracts one of the highest annual tax bills in the Los Angeles area, with the owner having to pay USD 1.3 million.
Ranch and lodge in Aspen, Colorado
In 2017, Murdoch purchased a luxury ranch worth USD 29 million in the world-famous ski resort town of Aspen nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Spread over an area of 182,110 sq metres, the ranch has a luxury lodge measuring 1254 sq metres. According to Daily Mail, The entrance to the mega property has a 3.3-metre-tall glass front door. The house has six bedrooms, with six-and-half baths. The rooms are decorated with custom chandeliers.
Most of the rooms and even the bathrooms have floor-to-ceiling windows which were constructed from the thickened glass that are used in skyscrapers. The floors are made of wide-plank walnut wood and the ceiling of cedar wood. The kitchen has Italian marble countertops. There is a fitness room, home theatre and den in the house.
Outside the living room is a wrap-around terrace, offering Murdoch’s family and their guests magnificent views of Red Mountain, Mt. Sopris, and the Continental Divide. The views of the mountains can also be enjoyed from the comfort of the soaking tubs in the spa-esque bathrooms.
Boat Shed in Point Piper
Murdoch added to his properties in Australia when he bought a boat shed in Sydney’s Point Piper for USD 30 million. The boat shed is spread over a land area of 1,973 sq metres and a waterfront measuring 40 metres.
The cost of the boat shed was high because it sat on the deep water side of Point Piper, making it perfect for the berthing of large-size luxury yachts. What makes Murdoch’s boat shed special is that it is one of the largest privately owned marina facilities in the area attached to a residence.
That residence is an attractive two-storey building covered in green shingles. It has a wood workshop where boats can be stored and repaired if needed and two boat docks with four moorings.
Its living space has hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings and picture windows. The house follows an open concept with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, a dining area and a kitchen. There is space large enough to park seven cars. The waterfront yard has a swimming pool and spa surrounded by lawn.
Murdoch and Sarah also owned another property at Point Piper, which he sold for around USD 14.55 million in 2005. They quickly invested USD 5.7 million to buy a waterfront residence at Bronte Beach, which they sold nine years later for USD 9 million.
Bellevue Hill Estate
Australian media reported in November 2009 that Murdoch bought a Bellevue Hill Estate called Le Manoir for around USD 18 million. The building used to house the French trade commissioner in Sydney and is located in close proximity to Point Piper. Murdoch won it in a closely contested auction, which had a bevvy of famous names bidding for the property. Among them were Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. Interestingly, Crowe had purchased Murdoch and Sarah’s Elizabeth Bay house named Berthong in 2003.
Le Manoir is a 4,000-square-metre Georgian-style house with six bedrooms. It is located on Victoria Road, from where the views of the Sydney Harbour to the Pacific Ocean are simply breathtaking. Inside the house are two study rooms, five bathrooms, a guest room, and a large reception hall among other living areas. Outside are a tennis court, a swimming pool and a three-car garage accessible via a long, private driveway. For security, it has 3-metre-tall fences and an electric steel gate.
Murdoch spent around USD 8 million more on the renovation of the property after buying it. AFR reported in 2018 that he spent around USD 3 million more to buy a neighbouring property along with its authority-approved plans to prevent its owners from blocking his mansion’s view. The purchase added 588 square metres to his original property and was originally done in 2016 via a proxy. The transfer of the property was made in Murdoch and Sarah’s name in 2017.
Yachts
In 2022, Murdoch purchased a motor yacht named Istros for USD 22.5 million in Europe and had it delivered to Australia. The yacht is 43 metres long and has been spotted at his dock in a boat shed in Point Piper. It was originally built in 1954 and was extensively refurbished years later.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), the yacht won the grand prize for the best-restored vessel at Monaco’s Classic Yacht Show in 2001. It fell into disuse. Dutch superyacht maker Van Geest Design then gave a complete makeover to the yacht before its eventual sale.
Istros has five staterooms which can accommodate up to 10 guests. It has a fully stocked private bar and lounge area on the top deck. There is also state-of-the-art satellite TV technology for the entertainment of the owners and guests. It has a maximum cruise speed of 13.5 knots (25 km/h) and a range of 6,297 km.
Istros is not the only yacht that Murdoch has. He also owns a 60-metre sloop which, according to another SMH report is named Sarissa, which was delivered to him in mid-2023 by the Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman. He took the yacht out in July on a family vacation at Positano off the Amalfi Coast in Italy, accompanied by his family, his father, his siblings and their families except James.
Sarissa is a luxury sailing vessel that cost Murdoch around USD 150 million. It is the largest carbon fibre yacht ever built in Holland and was known by its code name ‘Project 404′ or ‘MM597’ throughout its construction. The vessel can accommodate 12 guests and 10 crew. Its architect is Malcolm McKeon and its interiors have been done by French minimalist interior designer Studio Liaigre, which is known for working on the boats of the ultra-rich.
Interestingly, Murdoch owned another yacht named Sarissa. It measured around 42.6 metres and had a floating resort with a kids’ pool along with a rock climbing wall. It was on this yacht on which his father suffered a severe back injury while holidaying in the Caribbean in 2018, triggering the first succession crisis in the family.
AFR reports that the yacht is now known as Sharlou, which indicates that it may not be with Murdoch anymore.
Private Jet
A report by AFR hints that Lachlan Murdoch reportedly has one private jet, a USD 90 million pre-owned Gulfstream G550. The jet is technically owned by News Corp. but is used by Murdoch for his frequent flights between Sydney and Los Angeles.
The Gulfstream G550 is one of the most famous business jets in the world. It is believed that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk also has one in his collection. The jet, which is also part of several militaries around the world, has an ultra-long flight range of 12,501 km and a maximum speed of 1086 km/h, backed on the power of two Rolls-Royce BR710 engines. The aircraft comes with an integrated glass flight deck. It can seat up to 19 passengers in four customisable living areas.
Cars
The junior Murdoch is a fan of luxury four-wheelers that come with the promise of speed. But unlike the more robust information about his other assets, there is no clarity on the number or type of cars he owns.
It is believed that he has multiple Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Bugatti in his garages. Yet there is one car brand to which he has been most closely connected — Porsche.
In 2010, some media houses reported that he had placed an order for two Porsche Panamera Gran Turismo cars. The news was firmly rejected by his team and Porsche also issued an apology due to a communication mix-up at its Panamera V6 launch in Germany which led to the media reports.
“It is correct that Mr Murdoch has driven a Panamera, and that he has also driven other Porsches in the past, but it is incorrect that Mr Murdoch has ordered one, indeed two, Panameras,” the company said in a statement.
(Hero and Featured images: Robyn Beck/AFP)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who is the richest Murdoch?
The richest Murdoch is Rupert Murdoch, the creator of the family’s media empire. His personal net worth is estimated at around USD 8 billion. With the family’s fortune taken together, his net worth, according to Forbes, comes to around USD 17 billion.
Who is Rupert Murdoch’s son?
Rupert Murdoch has two sons: Lachlan and James.