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00:08The Murdoch succession battle has been like a soap opera that's been going on for, honestly, decades.
00:16We got the bombshell news that the Murdochs have settled.
00:20The long-running saga has reached a resolution.
00:23It was always about more than money.
00:25It was about power and daddy's love.
00:30Rupert got everything he wanted, and it ripped his family apart.
00:41Family dynasties are incredibly hard to maintain.
00:45They tend to follow a traditional pattern where you have a founder,
00:49then in the second generation, the real success,
00:52and in the third generation, things sort of fall apart.
00:57These families have an enormous amount of power.
01:00All this influence.
01:02All this wealth.
01:04Flying around in private jets with incredible properties all over the world.
01:09You have the Waltons in the U.S., who own Walmart.
01:12They solemnly swear.
01:13The Bushes.
01:14Please clap.
01:15The Fords.
01:17But of all these families, far and away, the most influential is the Murdochs.
01:27Rupert Murdoch is a one-of-a-kind, brilliant business person.
01:31But he's also a villain for a lot of people.
01:36Murdoch's a proper danger to liberal democracies.
01:41I'm not making any comments.
01:42If liberal democracy is your thing.
01:45Our company is a reflection of my thinking, my character, and my values.
01:54Like most rich people, Rupert thinks he's going to live beyond the grave.
01:59So he feels like he has to have control over his legacy,
02:03or it's the end of the empire.
02:06It's every father's natural desire to see his children follow him if they're up to it.
02:12For Rupert, there was the family, and there was the business.
02:17And they were never separate.
02:19But this is part of the game that Rupert Murdoch has played with his family.
02:23Tell us the best thing about your dad.
02:26See.
02:26What's at stake here is billions of dollars.
02:29And the most influential media property that's ever existed.
02:33So it's like a family squabble, like on steroids,
02:38that has a huge effect on our politics and our lives.
02:51I hate to do this, but to explain the Murdochs,
02:54you have to understand the television show Succession on HBO.
03:01It's about a dynastic media family, strikingly like the Murdochs.
03:06There's a patriarch who's very much modeled on Rupert Murdoch.
03:10And just like the Murdoch kids, there are four children,
03:14each with their own little camp.
03:17And of course, the Murdoch children love the show,
03:19except for James, who claims not to watch it.
03:26So in the last season in 2023, the Rupert character suddenly dies.
03:33Don't go, please. Not now.
03:35The family goes into a tailspin.
03:38They are not ready for it.
03:41Succession isn't settled.
03:42The stock price is crashing.
03:44My father, Logan Roy, was pronounced dead.
03:46No one has any idea what to do,
03:48who's going to speak at the funeral,
03:50who's going to take over the company.
03:51It's a mess.
03:55Elizabeth's representative, Mark Devereaux,
03:57is watching the show,
03:58and Mark finds himself in a panic.
04:01Oh my God, that could happen to us.
04:04We haven't thought about any of this.
04:06It's important to understand that though Rupert is well into his 90s,
04:10he hates talking about his mortality.
04:14There's this kind of mythology within Rupert Murdoch's companies
04:18that he's never going to die,
04:19that he's immortal.
04:21There's been no discussion of memorials, of burial.
04:25You just can't go there with Rupert.
04:29So Mark calls Liz and says,
04:32Oh my God, have you seen this episode?
04:34And she's already seen it twice.
04:37And she also panics.
04:39You have to do something.
04:41So Mark Devereaux starts to write what will become the succession memo.
04:49And it lays out,
04:51here are the things you have to start thinking about.
04:53What is going to happen when Rupert dies?
04:56Who will speak at the funeral?
04:58What will happen with the companies?
05:02And this memo is circulated among the children.
05:05And the idea is that they are going to begin this conversation,
05:08if not with their father,
05:10then at least on the margins around their father.
05:14Liz says this has to be sorted out now.
05:17The future of the family depends on it.
05:27Since they were kids,
05:28the Murdochs had been raised with this idea
05:31that their father built this media empire
05:34in a kind of swashbuckling,
05:38risk-it-all, gonzo manner
05:41that Rupert is really proud of.
05:45This is a theme that runs all through Rupert's career.
05:49It's the outsider,
05:50it's the underdog taking on the elite.
05:54And that was established early on
05:56when he first arrived in London in 1969.
06:04When Rupert arrived in Britain,
06:07no-one took him very seriously,
06:09which is the mistake everyone's made about Murdoch to this point.
06:13As a young man in Australia,
06:15he had acquired a number of Australian newspapers
06:18and had just married his second wife and a tour of Murdoch.
06:22Anna was originally a reporter
06:23on one of his Australian newspapers.
06:26She is quite capable of coping with the tricky job
06:29of being wife to an ambitious man.
06:31I think that being the wife of a tycoon
06:34must be awful, really.
06:36Well, first of all,
06:37I don't like him being called a tycoon.
06:40And secondly, it is awful sometimes,
06:42and it is lonely,
06:43and you are cut out of it.
06:45But I don't think I'd change it for anything at all.
06:49I think newspapers are in his blood.
06:50He's fascinated by them.
06:54By the presses rolling.
06:56Seeing it on the street.
06:59Watching what other people read.
07:02He catches the tube in the morning.
07:04And he doesn't take the papers.
07:06He has read them all here.
07:08And he sits in a little corner
07:09and watches the dolly birds in London
07:12with their mini skirts
07:13and what they're reading.
07:15He's a good Australian businessman who's come here.
07:18Look, I'm going to show you how to do it.
07:21Murdoch decides that the British establishment
07:23needs to be shaken up and disrupted.
07:27So he buys a fading, left-of-centred British tabloid
07:32called the News of the World.
07:34Murdoch took over the News of the World in January.
07:38Since then, its circulation has risen
07:40by more than half a million.
07:41Some critics claim
07:42it has lowered the standards of Fleet Street.
07:44The demon king of journalism,
07:46Rupert Murdoch.
07:47Rupert in Britain is called the dirty digger.
07:50The British establishment sees him
07:52as playing to the basest interests
07:56and appetites of the British public.
07:58People said he's destroying British newspapers,
08:02but actually he wasn't.
08:03He was making them fun.
08:06And people responded to that.
08:09I'm not ashamed of any of my newspapers at all.
08:12And I'm rather sick of snobs
08:15who tell us that they're bad papers.
08:17Snobs who only read papers that no one else wants.
08:24Murdoch's London home
08:25is in a fashionable square near Hyde Park.
08:28Anna has settled down somewhat uneasily
08:31to English life with her one-year-old daughter.
08:34Anna provides Rupert with a lovely family.
08:37Elizabeth, named after Rupert's mother,
08:40is born first.
08:42Lachlan and James arrive,
08:43each in sequence a couple years later.
08:46And with Prudence,
08:47who is a product of his first marriage in Australia,
08:51the Murdochs become prominent figures.
08:55Prominent enough that they're targeted.
08:57A recent profile of you said
08:59that you belong to the brash,
09:01masculine, Australian tradition.
09:03Is that how you see yourself?
09:05Brash? I don't know.
09:06Judge for yourself.
09:08He got a lot of publicity
09:09and he does an interview
09:11which then is seen by two men,
09:14the Hussein brothers.
09:19It shows Rupert's Rolls-Royce
09:22turning up at the offices of the News of the World.
09:25And the Hussein brothers go,
09:28that guy's rich.
09:29And they come up with a plan
09:31to kidnap his wife.
09:34One day, they follow the Rolls-Royce.
09:38But what they don't know
09:39is that the Murdochs have loaned their Rolls-Royce
09:42to the family of one of Murdoch's executives.
09:49And the executive's wife, Muriel McKay,
09:52is kidnapped instead.
09:55So the Hussein brothers are in a bind.
09:58They've kidnapped the wrong person.
09:59They don't know what to do with her.
10:01More than a hundred policemen
10:03will begin an even more intense search
10:05of the farm buildings and surrounding fields.
10:09The brothers were ultimately apprehended by police.
10:12But the body of Muriel McKay was never found.
10:19And for the Murdochs,
10:20it was also traumatic
10:22because they knew that the attempt
10:24had been on Anna Murdoch's life.
10:27You were the intended target for the kidnappers.
10:31That must have been a nightmare.
10:34It wasn't so bad for us
10:36as it was for Alec McKay.
10:38But certainly one has to think about it.
10:40And it coloured my time there
10:42in Britain after that happened.
10:45It shakes their sense
10:47that Britain is a safe place for them to be.
10:49She worries about her own safety,
10:51but she really worries about her children.
10:56Was that why you left?
10:58Um, partly.
11:06The details are very sketchy.
11:08But one night,
11:10Anna Murdoch is driving her own car
11:13and there was an elderly woman
11:15trying to cross the road
11:18and she hit the woman
11:19and killed her.
11:25No media did publish the details.
11:29I mean, this terrible accident
11:31happened 50 years ago
11:34and we still don't know
11:36very much about it.
11:38This is a terrible tragedy
11:40and it shakes Anna
11:42to her core.
11:45First, there had been
11:46the attempt on her life
11:49and the accident
11:51was the last straw.
11:52Anna Murdoch is desperate
11:54to leave England behind her.
12:02You went to America with the family?
12:04Yes, I took my children to New York.
12:09The Murdochs moved to a fabulous apartment
12:11just across the road
12:13from Central Park.
12:15It was this penthouse apartment
12:17that had a private elevator
12:19and a butler named George
12:22who catered to every whim.
12:26Anything that they could ever want
12:28or need was given to them.
12:31I suppose we lived
12:33a very privileged lifestyle
12:34comparative to some of the people
12:36that we grew up with
12:37but we didn't think of ourselves
12:39as special at all.
12:41The kids were afforded
12:43every luxury imaginable.
12:46They had the best educations.
12:48They went to the best schools.
12:51So they were all a part
12:53of this ecosystem
12:55of the most wealthy
12:57and powerful people in the city.
13:02Tell us about your father
13:04a little bit.
13:04Tell us the best thing
13:05about your dad.
13:07Best thing?
13:08Yes.
13:09Um, let's see.
13:12Um, well, he always likes
13:14to go camping with us
13:16and we'll go, actually,
13:17we're going camping
13:18after the Olympics
13:19for a week.
13:20Does he spend a lot
13:21of time with you?
13:22Yes.
13:26When James and Lachlan
13:28were really young,
13:29they were treated
13:29almost like twins.
13:31They were only born
13:3215 months apart
13:33and as little boys,
13:36they were almost inseparable.
13:37They liked to play
13:39knights together
13:40and build forts
13:42and, you know,
13:43get into little boy
13:44trouble together.
13:46When they argued,
13:48Rupert almost welcomed
13:49the competition
13:50between his children.
13:52He never stepped in
13:53to stop it.
13:54He just let them fight.
13:56When you were growing up,
13:58what sort of kind of
13:59pecking order
13:59in the family?
14:01No, I used to beat them up.
14:04Um, but we were always
14:06a very, very close family.
14:09For the Murdochs,
14:10family life was organized
14:12around Rupert's professional
14:14world where he was
14:15king of the castle.
14:18From a very early age,
14:19I'm talking now,
14:20seven years old
14:21and eight years old,
14:22we began to understand
14:23that we were part
14:23of the media business.
14:26Liz and James and I
14:27would come up to breakfast
14:28before we had to get
14:29the bus to school
14:30and all the papers
14:31would come out.
14:33And as we read the papers,
14:34my dad would be
14:35handing out stories
14:36to us and say,
14:36read that and see this.
14:37We'd say, look at that headline.
14:38That's a shocking headline.
14:41All of the kids
14:43wanted Rupert's attention
14:45and there was a finite
14:46amount of it to go around.
14:50So, invariably,
14:51the kids ended up
14:52competing for it.
14:53We knew that
14:55you had to be part
14:56of that world in some ways
14:57if you were going
14:58to be engaged with him.
15:01James told me this story
15:02about how his dad
15:04was always so distracted
15:05and would often not respond
15:07to James when he was talking.
15:10James once asked his mom,
15:11is daddy going deaf?
15:15No, he's just not listening.
15:19Rupert is always moving
15:21and like a shark,
15:23you die if you stop moving.
15:25He asks himself,
15:26what do my competitors know?
15:28What do I know
15:29that they don't know?
15:30Three blocks,
15:31you make a left.
15:32Follow that down.
15:33What Rupert liked about America
15:35was it wasn't old.
15:36It wasn't stuck in the past.
15:38He saw a huge landscape
15:40he could paint on.
15:43And that's exciting
15:44for an entrepreneur.
15:45He could do whatever he wanted.
15:48Murdoch bought the New York Post
15:50in 1976
15:51and on the very first day
15:54that Rupert took over the paper,
15:56door bursts open
15:57at 6 a.m. in the morning
15:58and he just walks in.
16:00There's things he wants changed.
16:03What Murdoch wants to do
16:05is to win over
16:06the white working class
16:09who are reading the Daily News.
16:10He's going to draw them
16:12to the New York Post.
16:13And in 1977,
16:16he got his chance.
16:20We bring you the following
16:21NBC News special report.
16:23Darkness Takes the City.
16:27The New York City area
16:28and its 10 million people
16:30were blocked off.
16:31And tonight,
16:32large parts of the city
16:33still are without power.
16:36There was looting.
16:37There was crime.
16:38And people felt that New York
16:41was just out of control.
16:43All the big columnists
16:44and all the papers
16:45are out in the streets.
16:46And many reporters were liberal
16:48in their views about these things.
16:51And they are writing about
16:53how the blackout
16:54has brought inequality
16:56in the city to the surface.
16:58So Rupert brings in
17:00his favorite correspondent,
17:01Steve Dunleavy.
17:03And Dunleavy knows
17:05the story that Rupert wants.
17:07He sees it through the eyes
17:09of the cops.
17:11So he says,
17:12I'll go to the poor neighborhood
17:13and I'll write about
17:13the breakdown in law and order.
17:19Playing to the white flight crowd.
17:23And it works.
17:25It sells papers.
17:28So Rupert says,
17:30that's what my newspaper's gonna be.
17:32Get your post here.
17:33Do your post here.
17:34He's building a new constituency,
17:37white, working-class readers.
17:40But with a populist right-leaning slant.
17:44Pre-Murdoch,
17:45the post was pretty much
17:47a blue-collar,
17:48but educated readership.
17:50I don't know what comes
17:51after blue-collar,
17:52but whatever the color
17:53of the collar is,
17:54that's where Rupert Murdoch took it.
17:58If you don't do what I want,
17:59then, you know,
18:01it's gonna be your fault,
18:02not my fault,
18:02if it doesn't work.
18:04Rupert was making
18:05the New York Post
18:05like his British tabloids
18:07with lots of sex,
18:08lots of crime,
18:10sensationalist headlines.
18:11Headless Body and Topless Bar,
18:14that's still legendary.
18:15He is doing a very good job,
18:17a superb job,
18:18and all his publications
18:21are more interesting
18:22than they have been.
18:24The post went from
18:25400,000 circulation
18:27to a million.
18:28I mean, we went from
18:30being this quiet little paper
18:31to being this paper
18:33that became controversial.
18:35Read on a belly,
18:36get the post here.
18:37And everybody
18:38either loved us
18:40or hated us.
18:41You run a sleazy newspaper.
18:43Not true.
18:45Rupert McCain,
18:46a villain for a lot of people.
18:47Rupert Murdoch.
18:48Controversial Australian public
18:50is the tabloid publishing
18:51that had given
18:51his more reputational
18:53newspapers in the world.
18:55But that disdain
18:58that sort of polite society
18:59had for Rupert Murdoch
19:01actually helped
19:02kind of bring the kids together
19:05and bring the family together.
19:06That's my son, James.
19:08James, are you
19:08in the newspaper business too?
19:09I want to be.
19:11Do you really?
19:12Yeah.
19:12Tell us about your dad.
19:13We only know him
19:13through the newspapers.
19:14How would you describe your dad?
19:16Um, well,
19:18different from what the newspapers say
19:20and the TV shows.
19:22Well, I think that
19:23the papers in the shows
19:26about him and stuff
19:26make him look
19:27a little, like,
19:29too mean
19:30and dark
19:30and sinister
19:31and really
19:32he's
19:33a really
19:34nice person
19:35and a fun person.
19:37Sometimes, eh?
19:37Yeah.
19:38When you're behind.
19:43I remember one cover
19:44of Time magazine
19:46that had my father's King Kong
19:48on top of the World Trade Center
19:50with, you know,
19:51little biplanes
19:52trying to shoot him down
19:53and that was the first
19:54memory that I had
19:55that, well,
19:56you know,
19:56the other dads at school
19:59weren't on the cover
20:00of a Time magazine
20:01portrayed as this monster.
20:04All these kids
20:05were very aware
20:06of the disapproval
20:09that many New Yorkers
20:10had for their father.
20:12And so it was something
20:13that forged
20:14their identity.
20:16I mean,
20:17Liz told me
20:17that if you see people
20:19constantly attacking your father,
20:20you just want to band together
20:22and that's what they did
20:24at least for a while.
20:29It's always been
20:29the kids' destiny
20:30that they're going to run
20:31the company.
20:32They're told that
20:33from a very early age.
20:35One day,
20:36one of you
20:37will be running
20:38the Murdoch Empire.
20:39They don't know
20:40who it's going to be.
20:41They know they're going
20:41to have to compete.
20:44This is part of the game
20:46that Rupert Murdoch
20:46has played with his family.
20:49It's going to be
20:50a long battle.
20:51They know they're going
20:51to have to prove themselves.
20:53And so,
20:54as competitors
20:55for Rupert's affections
20:56and ultimately
20:57for the succession,
21:01all the kids
21:02have played
21:03a different game.
21:05First and foremost,
21:06we have Prudence.
21:08Prue was
21:09from a previous marriage,
21:10had a different mother,
21:11so that made her feel
21:13like a little more
21:13of an outsider.
21:17Prudence,
21:17from relatively early
21:18on, decides
21:19she doesn't want
21:19to be a major player
21:20in this.
21:22You know,
21:22it's a big buzz
21:23being around Dad.
21:24You know,
21:25it's very exciting
21:26what he does.
21:27And I'm sure
21:29if I'd been around him
21:30longer,
21:30I may well have
21:31wanted to do that.
21:32But I always wanted
21:33to be independent.
21:38Next up
21:38is Elizabeth.
21:42Elizabeth.
21:42I think you said
21:43that of his children,
21:45you're the one
21:45who's most like him.
21:47Really?
21:49Um,
21:50possibly.
21:51I don't quite know
21:53what that means
21:53to be most like
21:54my old man.
21:57Elizabeth is
21:58the oldest child
21:59in his marriage
22:00to Anna Murdoch.
22:02She is shrewd
22:04and ambitious
22:05in her own way.
22:07She has her dad's
22:09creative streak
22:09in a way
22:10that her brothers
22:11don't.
22:13So she's sent
22:14to be a researcher
22:15on a pretty crappy
22:16little current affairs
22:16programme in Sydney,
22:17which is kind of
22:19the lowest of the low
22:20in that position.
22:21She serves a couple
22:22of years doing that
22:24and then she persuades
22:25Rupert to lend her
22:26some money
22:27to go and buy
22:27a couple of TV stations.
22:34Who are you most
22:35like of your
22:37mother and father?
22:38I don't know.
22:39I think
22:40hopefully I'm
22:41a mixture of both.
22:43Hopefully I've got
22:44my mother's looks.
22:49Lachlan has
22:50always been
22:51the dutiful son.
22:55He's kind of
22:56the mini Rupert.
22:58Self-consciously
22:59emulative
22:59of his dad.
23:02Lachlan did
23:03a little apprenticeship
23:03at the Times
23:05and the Sun
23:06in London.
23:07I was cleaning out
23:08the inkwells,
23:09but having said that,
23:10I understand
23:11the basics
23:12of printing,
23:12you know,
23:13a lot better
23:14than a lot of executives
23:15around the place.
23:17And then
23:17I went to university.
23:20Lachlan went to Princeton
23:21and was pretty low-key.
23:24His main passion
23:26was actually
23:27not academic at all.
23:29It was rock climbing.
23:31He was climbing
23:32eight hours a day
23:33and he was good at it.
23:35I studied philosophy
23:37and specifically
23:38sort of ethics.
23:40But I wasn't
23:41a great student.
23:42I tended to leave
23:43everything
23:44to the last minute.
23:45That's the journalist
23:46in here, perhaps.
23:47Absolutely.
23:48That's right.
23:48Pushing those deadlines
23:49whenever I can.
23:54James is more
23:55of an introvert.
23:56He's very bright,
23:58very articulate,
24:00but he was always
24:01seen as kind
24:01of the problem son.
24:03He had famously
24:04done an internship
24:06in an Australian newspaper
24:07and been photographed
24:09asleep on a couch
24:11as though he was bored
24:13with the news meeting
24:14that he was sitting in on.
24:15As it turned out,
24:16he had been up all night
24:17on an assignment
24:17and was exhausted.
24:20He just had this
24:21kind of rebellious streak
24:22that was always manifesting
24:23in different ways.
24:25For example,
24:25he somewhat infamously
24:27dropped out of school
24:28for a while
24:29to follow the Grateful Dead
24:30on tour.
24:32That was something
24:33that was used
24:33to sort of mock
24:34and ridicule him.
24:35And Lachlan was
24:36dutifully kind of
24:37taking the measure
24:38of his younger brother's
24:39missteps.
24:47If there's any such thing
24:48as the New York
24:49establishment,
24:50here it is
24:51from the wonderful
24:51world of politics,
24:53commerce,
24:54labor,
24:54and industry.
24:55Their guest on this
24:56occasion,
24:57Rupert Murdoch.
24:58Ladies and gentlemen,
25:01I appreciate
25:01your invitation
25:03to appear before
25:04such a distinguished group.
25:07By the 1980s,
25:10Rupert's pretty triumphant.
25:11He's got this
25:12wonderfully influential
25:14right-wing tabloid
25:15at a time
25:16when the city
25:16is ripe for it.
25:17The role of a newspaper
25:18should be
25:19to provoke debate.
25:21No apologies
25:21for anything.
25:24The Murdoch Empire
25:25is sprawling
25:27with assets
25:28in the U.S.,
25:29in the U.K. and Australia.
25:35Rupert wants to have
25:36real power,
25:37and he recognizes
25:38that that kind of power
25:40comes not just through news,
25:42but through shaping politics.
25:45He's got a giant goal in mind,
25:48and he can only get it
25:49with the help
25:50of powerful politicians.
25:53And so he starts
25:55making friends
25:55with the biggest names
25:56in New York society.
25:59Rupert and Donald Trump
26:01are in the same ecosystem.
26:07And Roy Cohn is there.
26:10Roy Cohn is the famous advisor
26:13of Donald Trump,
26:14who gives him the playbook
26:16of how the media works
26:18and how to be
26:18the person he is today.
26:20I would do anything
26:22that is legally permissible
26:24to get my client to win.
26:28Cohn tells Rupert
26:29about backroom deals
26:31and who's in power
26:32and who's not.
26:34Cohn gets him in touch
26:36with Roger Stone.
26:37They're the New York Republicans
26:39behind Reagan.
26:41We will make America
26:44great again.
26:45Thank you very much.
26:49Rupert is keen to turn
26:51the political influence
26:53that he has
26:53as a media proprietor
26:55into commercial advantage.
26:59So he gets behind
27:00a politician in a way
27:01that the New York Post
27:02hadn't ever really done.
27:05Governor, are you prepared
27:06to take the constitutional oath?
27:08Yes, I am.
27:09You place your left hand
27:10on the Bible
27:10and raise your right hand.
27:12There's a lot Rupert needs
27:13and he can only get it
27:15from a friendly
27:16presidential administration.
27:21What Rupert wants to do
27:23is unheard of.
27:24At the time,
27:25a brazen idea.
27:28He wants to start
27:29a fourth television network.
27:32This was a time
27:33where you can't imagine it
27:34because today
27:35there's so much media everywhere.
27:37But at that time,
27:38there was only
27:39the three networks.
27:42This is CBS.
27:43This is ABC.
27:45History and logic
27:46say a fourth broadcast network
27:48is a long shot.
27:49But Rupert Murdoch
27:50doesn't always play
27:51the percentages.
27:52If we pull it off,
27:53it'll be a real feather
27:54in our cap.
27:56There were these regulations
27:57that made it hard
27:58for someone like Rupert Murdoch
27:59to Walton and say,
28:01I'm going to start a network.
28:02For instance,
28:03you couldn't have
28:04a television station
28:06and a newspaper
28:07in the same city.
28:08You couldn't have
28:09more than X number of stations
28:10in the whole country.
28:12So who's going to help
28:13Rupert pull this thing off?
28:17The Reagan administration
28:19essentially gave Rupert Murdoch,
28:21let's call it an easement.
28:24He's able to get a waiver
28:26so that he can own
28:28both the paper
28:28and a television station
28:30in the same market.
28:31And then he had to become
28:33an American citizen
28:34to own a broadcast network.
28:35Media magnate Rupert Murdoch
28:37today renounced
28:38his Australian citizenship
28:39to become an American.
28:41He goes in a back door
28:42in a New York City
28:42federal courthouse
28:43and emerges the same day
28:45with his citizenship in hand.
28:47Like, that's what happens
28:48when you help
28:49Ronald Reagan get elected.
28:50Would you be kind enough
28:51to stop for a moment
28:52and maybe give us
28:52three or four questions?
28:54I don't know.
28:55I don't know.
28:55You'll see this
28:56time and time again
28:57in his career.
28:58It's always about
28:59picking the right politician
29:00to get the regulation
29:01out of his way
29:02to get the thing he needs
29:03for the next conquest.
29:05Rupert is learning
29:06how to use power.
29:08And boom,
29:10the Fox Network was born.
29:23Fox wants to become
29:24an alternative
29:25for viewers bored
29:26with standard network fare.
29:28The three networks
29:29did the same thing.
29:31They offered
29:31the same hot dog.
29:32Are you mean, cute?
29:33I call him Scotty.
29:35And these guys
29:36are like, hamburgers,
29:37time for hamburgers.
29:41Rupert really
29:42hit it out of the park
29:43with Fox Network.
29:44Welcome to Men on Film.
29:47Oh, there was nothing
29:47like it.
29:48Oh, crap!
29:50The comedy shows
29:50had the snarkiness
29:51and attitude.
29:53Take a picture of me
29:54so he can remember me
29:55when I was beautiful.
29:56What, you're gonna get worse?
29:59Brass shows
29:59play to the same
30:01kind of interests
30:01that might appeal
30:02to a tabloid
30:03newspaper viewer.
30:04Shut up and take the picture.
30:09He took from
30:10the New York Post
30:11this populist tendency
30:12and put it on steroids.
30:13Eat my shorts, lame-os!
30:17Fox, under Rupert Murdoch,
30:19created a market
30:20for television
30:21that did not exist.
30:23Seems to have made us
30:23very popular with the viewers
30:25and very unpopular
30:26with our competitors.
30:27And that's a pretty
30:28good place to be.
30:30Rupert shook things up.
30:32He put the whole
30:33empire at risk.
30:34And the public
30:35rewarded him for it.
30:39With his success
30:41in film and TV,
30:43Rupert and Anna
30:44moved to Los Angeles
30:45to run these companies.
30:48Meanwhile,
30:49James was enrolled
30:50in an elite prep school
30:51in Manhattan.
30:53And so he stayed behind
30:55for basically
30:56all of his teenage years,
30:59living alone
31:00in this penthouse
31:01house with Butler George.
31:07Just kind of doing
31:08whatever he wanted.
31:10And he and his best friend
31:12were allowed
31:13to run wild
31:14in this penthouse.
31:16They would have people over
31:18and got into
31:19a lot of trouble.
31:22But I think
31:23even then,
31:24James knew
31:25that he would be forced
31:26to work for the
31:27family business one day.
31:31Well, now,
31:31I guess you all know
31:32that the newspaper business
31:33can be a funny business.
31:35To my next guest,
31:36it happens to be
31:36a family business.
31:38She's the wife
31:39of probably the richest
31:40and the most controversial,
31:41also maybe the most influential,
31:42media mogul
31:43in the world.
31:44Would you please welcome
31:45Anna Murdoch?
31:56Nice to see you again.
31:57It's nice to be with you.
31:58Now, listen,
31:59the book is family business.
32:01Why would Anna Murdoch
32:03write a book
32:04about an international
32:05media mogul?
32:07That's a very obvious question.
32:13Anna famously wrote
32:15a novel called
32:15Family Business
32:17that sort of
32:18closely mirrored
32:19some of the facts
32:20of the Murdoch family.
32:23In this novel,
32:24the Rupert Murdoch character
32:25is actually a woman
32:27who, like Rupert,
32:31is incredibly passionate
32:33about newspapers
32:34and knows every detail
32:36of the process.
32:38And she has three kids
32:41that have all got claims
32:43to the business
32:44and it shows
32:45how the succession
32:47could end in tears.
32:49I wanted to show
32:50the breakup
32:50within the family
32:51that I think
32:52power and money
32:54can actually affect
32:55sibling relationships.
32:58You have all these
33:00little fiefdoms
33:00and people arguing
33:01among themselves.
33:04I think Anna
33:05was almost
33:06a Cassandra figure
33:07in all of this.
33:10She was very prescient
33:11in knowing
33:12that this kind
33:14of inheritance
33:15was going to become
33:16a problem.
33:18And I think
33:19she was kind of
33:19advising Rupert
33:20in this novel
33:21that no good
33:22would come of it.
33:35The thing about
33:36men like Rupert
33:38is that
33:39they say
33:41that they're doing
33:42everything for their family
33:43and they're building
33:44this family empire.
33:45But at the end
33:46of the day
33:46the empire
33:48always takes precedent
33:49over the family.
33:52He says
33:53I want one of my children
33:54to succeed me
33:55but he doesn't say
33:56how they should succeed him
33:58what exactly
33:59they need to do
33:59in order to get
34:01that brass ring.
34:04And
34:05it sets up
34:06exactly the dynamic
34:08that Anna didn't want.
34:11This sort of rivalry
34:13among the kids.
34:15It's like Hunger Games
34:16Murdoch style.
34:19From the time
34:20that we were
34:21very small
34:23this is one of the
34:23other lessons
34:24that dad taught me
34:25it has been very clear
34:26that you have to
34:27control your own destiny.
34:30Elizabeth is running
34:31her own TV stations
34:32in America.
34:33She makes some decisions
34:34that people don't like.
34:36Elizabeth takes a page
34:38out of her father's
34:39playbook.
34:40She sacks people
34:41that have been around
34:41a long time.
34:42She pisses
34:43quite a few people off
34:44but she makes a success
34:46of those TV stations.
34:48and sells them
34:49at a great profit.
34:52Rupert respects that
34:53and really
34:53sees her
34:54as a capable
34:56executive.
34:58She s maybe even
34:59a worthy protege.
35:02And then she says
35:03she s going to go
35:03and do an MBA.
35:05And Rupert brings her up
35:06and says
35:06what do you mean
35:07do an MBA?
35:08Come and work for me.
35:11You ll learn much more.
35:14So she goes and works
35:15with her father
35:16in Britain.
35:19My father's remarkable
35:20in what he's achieved.
35:21I ll work as hard
35:22as I can
35:23to do as much
35:23as I can
35:24and I ll take
35:26one challenge
35:26at a time.
35:28Lachlan moves
35:29to Brisbane
35:30and becomes
35:31junior manager
35:32at Rupert's Paper
35:33the Courier Mail.
35:37Lachlan is elevated
35:39incredibly quickly
35:40to positions of power.
35:42He s running
35:42the Queensland newspapers
35:44at the age
35:44of 22 years old.
35:46He s young
35:47He s good looking
35:48He s fabulously rich
35:51Arguably
35:52he s the most eligible
35:53bachelor in the country.
35:54With him today
35:55he s heir apparent
35:56son Lachlan.
35:57Lachlan Murdoch
35:58has made a faster rise
35:59to the top
36:00than Tiger Woods.
36:01Have your dad
36:01ever had this conversation
36:02with you
36:03some day you ll run
36:03this company?
36:04No.
36:04No.
36:05My father's focused
36:06on the day to day.
36:08By the mid-90s
36:10he has essentially
36:10been handed
36:11the whole of
36:12the Australian empire.
36:14And even though
36:15Rupert officially says
36:17that any of the kids
36:18could succeed him
36:21it seems like
36:22Lachlan is his favorite.
36:25Is there now
36:26an acceptance
36:27that your elder brother
36:28Lachlan will take over
36:29eventually?
36:31I don't think
36:32that's really
36:33yeah that's really
36:34not an issue
36:35that I concern myself with
36:36as I said
36:36It's an issue
36:37lots of other people
36:37concern themselves with.
36:38That's their business.
36:41James decided
36:42that he doesn't want
36:43to be part of the company
36:44that he wants to
36:45make his own way
36:48James drops out
36:49of Harvard
36:50and he goes out
36:51and he finds
36:52raucous records
36:54seeking to show
36:55that he has a sensibility
36:56for a new generation.
36:58James is trying
36:59desperately
37:00to prove himself
37:01as an outsider.
37:03His father probably
37:04didn't even know
37:04what hip-hop was.
37:06You know
37:07he was like
37:07the hip Murdoch.
37:09He wore an earring
37:11so we knew
37:11he was cool.
37:15All these kids
37:16know they have
37:17to shine
37:17and impress
37:18their father.
37:19But it's clear
37:21that he's not just
37:21going to give up
37:22this empire.
37:24There was more
37:25to do.
37:26Another chapter
37:27to write.
37:28I want to say
37:29what I'm doing
37:30as long as
37:30I'm physically fit.
37:32I don't think
37:32my children are ready yet.
37:35They may not agree
37:36with that
37:36but I'm certainly
37:37planning to make them
37:38wait several more years.
37:44Good morning everyone.
37:45I'm Alex McCostorini.
37:47And I'm
37:47you're at
37:48topping our news
37:49this morning.
37:50That's great.
37:51Congratulations.
37:52When do you think
37:53we'll get back to you?
37:55By the late 90s
37:57Rupert Murdoch
37:58has enjoyed
37:58an enormous amount
37:59of success
38:00in the U.S.
38:05He has
38:0620th Century Fox
38:07movie studios
38:08television
38:09he is a
38:10legitimate mogul
38:12and he has
38:13the ear
38:13of politicians.
38:14Hello Mr. Murdoch.
38:15Hello again.
38:16How are you?
38:17He is
38:19at the top
38:20of his game.
38:22Rupert is
38:23in his late 60s
38:24and Anna
38:25has been waiting
38:26for years now
38:27for Rupert
38:28to retire
38:29to start
38:29their own life
38:30together.
38:31Anna had been
38:32suggesting that
38:33Murdoch step back
38:33from the company
38:34and prepare
38:35one of their
38:36children to succeed
38:37him.
38:38He didn't want
38:39to do that at all.
38:40He was just
38:41getting started.
38:44He's getting
38:44a little antsy
38:45and decides
38:47to check out
38:47his Asia operations.
38:51While he is
38:52traveling on a tour
38:54through China
38:55Rupert meets
38:57a young woman
38:58named Wendy Dang.
39:02She had a junior
39:03role at his company.
39:06Suddenly Rupert
39:07is unavailable.
39:09He says
39:10that he was
39:11scouting properties
39:12or traveling.
39:14Eventually
39:15people on his staff
39:16start noticing
39:17that he's showing up
39:19with Wendy Dang
39:20here and there.
39:22It's clear
39:23pretty quickly
39:23that a friendship
39:24is blooming.
39:26Anna will say
39:27outright
39:27later
39:28that it was an affair.
39:30Rupert will deny
39:31it's an affair.
39:35He came back
39:36from Asia
39:37and set up
39:38a board meeting
39:39where he rather
39:40abruptly announced
39:42that he was going
39:43to divorce
39:45his second wife
39:46Anna Torf Murdoch
39:47and that she was
39:48going to be relinquishing
39:49her spot on the
39:50company board.
39:52Not long afterwards
39:53he was telling
39:54his children
39:54that he'd met
39:55a nice Chinese lady.
39:57He wrote me up
39:57and said,
39:58and by the way
39:59I've met this lady.
40:00I couldn't believe it
40:02actually.
40:02I just thought
40:03you dirty old man.
40:04Both Lachlan
40:05and James
40:06tried to convince
40:07Rupert not
40:08to be with Wendy.
40:09They are just aghast
40:11that Rupert
40:12would betray
40:12their mother
40:13in this way.
40:15This is a great shock
40:16to the rest
40:17of the family.
40:18And this was
40:19deeply humiliating
40:20for Anna.
40:22The wife
40:22of the media tycoon
40:23Rupert Murdoch
40:24filed for divorce
40:25in California today.
40:27The divorce papers
40:28show that
40:28Mrs. Anna Murdoch
40:29doesn't know
40:30how much
40:30her husband's
40:31business interests
40:32are worth.
40:33That she means
40:33to find out.
40:35Their divorce
40:36exposes the assets
40:37of one of the
40:37world's richest men.
40:39News Corporation's
40:40share price
40:40dropped 27 cents.
40:42Of concern,
40:43the impact
40:43the separation
40:44could have
40:45on the future
40:45ownership
40:45of the company.
40:46The stage
40:47may be set
40:48for the biggest
40:49divorce settlement ever.
40:53Because the divorce
40:55is filed in California.
40:56Anna will be entitled
40:59to half of all
41:01the wealth Murdoch
41:02built over the course
41:03of their 30 years
41:04together.
41:07But throughout
41:08the whole building
41:10of the empire
41:11and the raising
41:11of the kids,
41:12she has been focused
41:13on one thing
41:14far more than money.
41:15And that's how
41:17this succession battle
41:18is going to play out
41:19between the children.
41:20She saw the way
41:21that Rupert
41:23pitted them
41:23against each other
41:24and she didn't want
41:25that to become
41:26the defining
41:26aspect of their lives.
41:29So she decides
41:31to use her power
41:32to secure
41:32her children's
41:33control over
41:35the company
41:35going forward.
41:37And that's when
41:38she negotiates
41:39to set up
41:40the Murdoch
41:41family trust.
41:44Instead of going
41:45for half of his assets,
41:46which she might
41:47have been entitled to,
41:48she took only,
41:49I'll use that in quotes,
41:50only $110 million
41:54and created a trust
41:55where all of the children
41:57will, in tandem,
41:58together,
42:00decide the fate
42:00of the family business.
42:04The trust gives
42:05Rupert four votes
42:07and his children,
42:09Elizabeth,
42:10James,
42:10Lachlan,
42:11and Prudence,
42:12one vote each
42:13until Rupert dies.
42:16And then the four of them
42:17will have equal control
42:19over the company
42:19in the future.
42:22Having equal control
42:23among four siblings
42:24is not a great idea.
42:26They could deadlock
42:27and that could make it
42:29impossible for the company
42:30to make decisions.
42:32But I think he just
42:34trusts that it's fine.
42:36I'll deal with it later.
42:37I'll kick this can
42:38down the road.
42:41Until that moment,
42:43Rupert Murdoch
42:44has full control
42:44of his destiny.
42:46He controls the companies.
42:47He will choose
42:48his successor.
42:49But Rupert is eager,
42:52perhaps over-eager,
42:53to move on
42:54with the next chapter.
42:56And in pursuit
42:57of a second life
42:58and much younger wife,
43:00he gives up control
43:02of his empire.
43:04It's a fateful decision
43:06that will change
43:07the entire dynamic
43:08in the Murdoch family.
43:09This is the moment.
43:11The beginning of a battle
43:13that would define
43:14the family
43:15for decades.
43:17is the moment.
43:18It's early to fall.
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