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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!
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.
01:28Rupert 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.
01:55Like 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.
03:36The 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 binds 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, that 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,
05:15this 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
06:12to 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, Anna Torf 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, Rupert.
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.
06:51He'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's read them all here.
07:08And he sits in a little corner
07:10and watches the dolly birds in London
07:12with their mini skirts
07:13and what they're reading.
07:15He's a good Australian businessman
07:17who's come here
07:18and 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 it 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.
08:06People 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, is 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, masculine, 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 to 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 100 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.
10:35So bad for us as it was for Alec McKay.
10:38But certainly one has to think about it.
10:40And it colored 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.
10:50She worries about her own safety,
10:52but 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 happened 50 years ago
11:34and we still don't know very much about it.
11:38This is a terrible tragedy
11:40and it shakes Anna to her core.
11:45First, there had been the attempt on her life
11:49and the accident was the last straw.
11:52Anna Murdoch is desperate
11:54to leave England behind her.
12:02Do you 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 from Central Park.
12:15It was this penthouse apartment
12:17that had a private elevator
12:20and 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,
12:38but 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
12:54of this ecosystem
12:55of the most wealthy
12:58and powerful people in the city.
13:02Tell us about your father a little bit.
13:04Tell us the best thing about your dad.
13:07Best thing?
13:08Yes.
13:09Um, let's see.
13:12Um, well, he always likes to go camping with us
13:16and we'll go, actually,
13:17we're going camping after the Olympics
13:19for a week.
13:20Does he spend a lot of time with you?
13:23Yes.
13:26When James and Lachlan were really young,
13:29they were treated almost like twins.
13:31They were only born 15 months apart
13:33and as little boys,
13:36they were almost inseparable.
13:37They liked to play knights together
13:40and build forts
13:42and, you know,
13:43get into little boy trouble together.
13:46When they argued,
13:48Rupert almost welcomed
13:49the competition between his children.
13:52He never stepped in to stop it.
13:54He just let them fight.
13:56When you were growing up,
13:58was there a kind of pecking order
13:59in the family?
14:01No, I used to beat them up.
14:03Um, but we were always
14:06a very, very close family.
14:09For the Murdochs,
14:10family life was organized
14:12around Rupert's professional world
14:15where he was king of the castle.
14:18From a very early age,
14:19I'm talking now seven years old
14:21and eight years old,
14:22we began to understand
14:23that we were part of the media business.
14:26Liz and James and I
14:27would come up for breakfast
14:28before we had to get the bus to school
14:30and all the papers would come out.
14:33And as we read the papers,
14:34my dad would be handing out stories
14:36to us and say,
14:37read that and say this.
14:37We'd say, look at that headline.
14:39That's a shocking headline.
14:41All of the kids
14:43wanted Rupert's attention
14:45and there was a finite amount of it
14:47to go around.
14:50So, invariably,
14:51the kids ended up competing for it.
14:53We knew that you had to be part of that world
14:56in some ways
14:57if you were going to be engaged with him.
15:01James told me this story
15:02about how his dad was always so distracted
15:05and would often not respond to James
15:08when 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 that they don't know?
15:30Three blocks,
15:31you make a left.
15:32You follow 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 for 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,
16:00has 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.
16:24Darkness takes the city.
16:27The New York City area
16:28and its 10 million people
16:30were blocked out.
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
16:40that 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
16:47were liberal
16:48in their views
16:49about these things.
16:51And they are writing
16:52about how
16:53the blackout
16:54has brought
16:55inequality in the city
16:56to the surface.
16:58So Rupert brings in
17:00his favorite correspondent,
17:01Steve Dunleavy.
17:03And Dunleavy
17:04knows the story
17:05that Rupert wants.
17:07He sees it
17:08through 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
17:14in 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
17:31is going to be.
17:32Get your post here.
17:33Do your post here.
17:34I don't get more.
17:35He's building
17:35a new constituency,
17:37white,
17:37working class readers.
17:40But with a populist
17:42right-leaning slant.
17:44Pre-Murdoch,
17:45the post
17:46was pretty much
17:47a blue-collar
17:48but educated readership.
17:50I don't know
17:51what comes after
17:52blue-collar
17:52but whatever the color
17:53of the collar is,
17:54that's where
17:55Rupert Murdoch took it.
17:58If you don't do
17:59what I want,
17:59then, you know,
18:01it's going to be
18:01your 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.
18:12Headless body
18:12and topless bar,
18:14that's still legendary.
18:15He is doing
18:16a 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
18:25from 400,000 circulation
18:27to a million.
18:28Very good.
18:29I mean,
18:29we went from being
18:30this quiet little paper
18:31to being this paper
18:33that became controversial.
18:35Read on a belly
18:36if it's a post here.
18:37And everybody
18:38either loved us
18:40or hated us.
18:41You're on a sleazy.
18:42newspaper.
18:43Not true.
18:45Rupert became
18:45a villain
18:46for a lot of people.
18:47Rupert Murdoch.
18:49Controversial Australian
18:50published attack.
18:55But that disdain
18:58that sort of polite society
18:59had for Rupert Murdoch
19:01actually helped
19:02kind of bring
19:04the kids together
19:05and bring the family together.
19:06It's my son, James.
19:08James, are you
19:09in the newspaper business, too?
19:10I want to be.
19:11Do you really?
19:11Yeah.
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
19:18what the newspapers say
19:20and the TV shows.
19:22Well, I think that
19:23the, um,
19:24the papers
19:24and the shows
19:26about him
19:26and stuff
19:26make him look
19:27a little,
19:28like,
19:29too mean
19:30and dark
19:30and sinister.
19:31and really
19:32he's
19:33a really
19:35nice person,
19:36a fun person.
19:37Sometimes, eh?
19:37Yeah.
19:38When you behave.
19:43I remember
19:43one cover
19:44of Time Magazine
19:46that had
19:46my father's
19:47King Kong
19:48on top of
19:49the World Trade Center
19:50with, you know,
19:51little biplanes
19:52trying to shoot him down.
19:53And that was
19:54the first memory
19:55that I have
19:55that, well,
19:56you know,
19:56the other,
19:57the other dads
19:58at school
19:59weren't on the,
20:00on the cover
20:00of 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,
20:16Liz told me
20:17that if you see people
20:19constantly attacking
20:20your father,
20:20you just want to band together.
20:22And that's what they did,
20:25at least for a while.
20:29It's always been
20:29the kids' destiny
20:30that they're going
20:31to run the 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
20:41going to 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
20:52to 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,
21:19decides she 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.
21:25You 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.
21:56Elizabeth is the oldest child
21:59in his marriage
22:00marriage to 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 don't.
22:12So she's sent
22:14to be a researcher
22:15on a pretty crappy
22:16little current affairs
22:16program 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
22:28a 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 hopefully
22:41I'm a mixture of both.
22:43Hopefully I've got
22:44my mother's looks.
22:49Lachlan has always
22:51been the dutiful son.
22:55He's kind of
22:56the mini Rupert,
22:58self-consciously
22:59emulative of his dad.
23:02Lachlan did a little
23:03apprenticeship at the
23:04Times and the Sun
23:06in London.
23:07I was cleaning out
23:08the inkwells,
23:09but having said that,
23:10I understand the basics
23:12of printing a lot better
23:14than a lot of executives
23:15around the place.
23:17And then I went
23:18to university.
23:20Lachlan went to
23:21Princeton and was
23:23pretty low-key.
23:25His main passion
23:26was actually not
23:27academic 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 to the
23:44last minute.
23:45That's the journalist
23:46in here, perhaps.
23:47Absolutely, that'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,
23:59but he was always
24:01seen as kind of
24:01the problem son.
24:03He had famously
24:04done an internship
24:06in an Australian
24:07newspaper and been
24:08photographed asleep
24:10to sleep 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 kind
24:21of rebellious streak
24:22that was always
24:23manifesting in different
24:24ways.
24:25For example,
24:25he somewhat infamously
24:27dropped out of school
24:28for a while
24:29to follow the grateful
24:30dead on tour.
24:32That was something
24:33that was used to sort of
24:34mock and ridicule him,
24:35and Lachlan was
24:36dutifully kind of
24:37taking the measure
24:38of his younger
24:39brother's missteps.
24:46If 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,
25:00I appreciate
25:01your invitation
25:03to appear before
25:04such a distinguished
25:05group.
25:07By the 1980s,
25:10Rupert's pretty
25:10triumphant.
25:12He's got this
25:13wonderfully influential
25:14right-wing tabloid
25:15at a time when the city
25:16is ripe for it.
25:17The role of a newspaper
25:19should be to provoke
25:20debate.
25:21No apologies
25:21for anything.
25:24The Murdoch Empire
25:25is sprawling
25:27with assets
25:28in the US,
25:29UK,
25:29and Australia.
25:31Hey!
25:33Hey!
25:35Rupert wants
25:36to have real power
25:37and he recognizes
25:38that that kind
25:39of power
25:40comes not just
25:41through news,
25:42but through
25:43shaping politics.
25:45He's got a
25:46giant goal
25:47in mind
25:47and he can only
25:49get it
25:49with the help
25:50of powerful
25:51politicians.
25:53And so
25:54he starts
25:55making friends
25:56with the biggest
25:56names in New York
25:57society.
25:59Rupert
25:59and Donald Trump
26:01are in the same
26:02ecosystem.
26:07And Roy Cohn
26:09is there.
26:10Roy Cohn
26:11is the famous
26:12advisor
26:13of Donald Trump
26:14who gives him
26:15the playbook
26:16of how the media
26:17works
26:18and how to be
26:19the person
26:19he is today.
26:20I would do
26:22anything
26:22that is legally
26:23permissible
26:24to get my
26:26client to win.
26:28Cohn
26:28tells Rupert
26:29about backroom
26:31deals
26:31and who's in
26:32power
26:32and who's not.
26:34Cohn
26:35gets him in
26:35touch with
26:36Roger Stone.
26:37They're the
26:38New York
26:39Republicans
26:39behind Reagan.
26:41We will
26:42make America
26:44great again.
26:45Thank you
26:46very much.
26:49Rupert
26:50is keen
26:50to turn
26:51the political
26:52influence
26:53that he has
26:53as a media
26:54proprietor
26:55into
26:56commercial
26:56advantage.
26:59So he
26:59gets behind
27:00a politician
27:01in a way
27:01that the New York
27:02Post hadn't
27:02ever really
27:03done.
27:05Governor,
27:06are you prepared
27:06to take the
27:07constitutional oath?
27:08I am.
27:09Place your
27:09left hand
27:10on the Bible
27:10and raise
27:11your right hand.
27:12There's a lot
27:12Rupert needs
27:13and he can
27:15only get
27:15it from
27:16a friendly
27:16presidential
27:17administration.
27:21What Rupert
27:22wants to do
27:23is unheard
27:23of.
27:24At the time
27:25a brazen
27:26idea.
27:27He wants
27:28to start
27:29a fourth
27:29television
27:30network.
27:32This was a
27:33time when
27:33you can't
27:34imagine it
27:34because today
27:35there's so
27:35much media
27:36everywhere.
27:37But at
27:38that time
27:38there was
27:39only the
27:40three networks.
27:42This is
27:43CBS.
27:43This is
27:44ABC.
27:45History
27:46and logic
27:46say a
27:46fourth
27:47broadcast
27:47network
27:48is a
27:48long shot.
27:49But Rupert
27:50Murdoch
27:50doesn't always
27:51play the
27:51percentages.
27:52If we
27:53pull it
27:53off it'll
27:53be a
27:54real feather
27:54in our
27:54cap.
27:56There were
27:57these
27:57regulations
27:57that made
27:58it hard
27:58for someone
27:59like Rupert
27:59Murdoch
27:59to waltz
28:00in and say
28:01I'm going
28:01to start
28:01a network.
28:02For instance
28:03you couldn't
28:04have a
28:05television station
28:06and a
28:06newspaper in
28:07the same
28:07city.
28:08You couldn't
28:08have more
28:09than X
28:09number of
28:10stations in
28:10the whole
28:10country.
28:12So who's
28:13going to
28:13help Rupert
28:14pull this
28:14thing off?
28:17The
28:18Reagan
28:18administration
28:19essentially gave
28:20Rupert Murdoch
28:21let's call it
28:22an easement.
28:23He's able to
28:25get a waiver
28:26so that he
28:27can own both
28:28a paper and
28:29a television
28:30station in the
28:31same market.
28:31And then he
28:32had to become
28:33an American
28:33citizen to own
28:34a broadcast network.
28:35Media magnate
28:36Rupert Murdoch
28:37today renounced
28:38his Australian
28:38citizenship to
28:39become an
28:40American.
28:41He goes in
28:41a backdoor in
28:42a New York
28:42City federal
28:43courthouse and
28:44emerges the
28:45same day with
28:45his citizenship
28:46in hand.
28:47Like that's
28:48what happens
28:48when you help
28:49Ronald Reagan
28:49get elected.
28:50Would you be
28:51kind enough to
28:51stop for a
28:52moment and
28:52maybe give
28:52us three or
28:53four questions?
28:54I've got
28:54nothing behind
28:55at all.
28:55You'll see
28:56this time and
28:57time again in
28:57his career.
28:58It's always
28:59about picking
29:00the right
29:00politician to
29:01get the
29:01regulation out
29:02of his way
29:02to get the
29:03thing he needs
29:03for the next
29:04conquest.
29:05Rupert is
29:06learning how
29:06to use
29:07power.
29:08And boom
29:09the Fox
29:10Network was
29:11born.
29:23Fox wants
29:24to become
29:24an alternative
29:25for viewers
29:26bored with
29:27standard network
29:27fare.
29:28The three
29:29networks did
29:30the same
29:30thing.
29:31They offered
29:31the same
29:31hot dog.
29:33I call
29:34him Scotty.
29:35And these
29:36guys were
29:36like,
29:36hamburgers,
29:37time for
29:37hamburgers.
29:41Rupert really
29:42hit it out
29:42of the park
29:43with Fox
29:44Network.
29:44Welcome to
29:45Men on
29:46Field.
29:47Oh, there
29:47was nothing
29:48like it.
29:48Oh!
29:49The comedy
29:50shows had
29:51the snarkiness
29:52and attitude.
29:53Take a picture
29:54of me so he
29:54can remember
29:55me when I
29:55was beautiful.
29:56What, you're
29:57going to get
29:57worse?
29:59Brass shows
29:59play to the
30:00same kind of
30:01interest that
30:02might appeal to
30:02a tabloid
30:03newspaper viewer.
30:04Shut up
30:04and take
30:05the picture.
30:09He took
30:09from the
30:10New York
30:10Post this
30:11populist
30:11tendency and
30:12put it on
30:13steroids.
30:14Eat my
30:14shorts,
30:14lame-os!
30:17Fox under
30:18Rupert Murdoch
30:19created a
30:20market for
30:21television that
30:21did not
30:22exist.
30:23Seems to
30:23have made
30:23us very
30:24popular with
30:24the viewers
30:25and very
30:25unpopular
30:26with our
30:26competitors.
30:27And that's
30:28a pretty
30:28good place
30:29to be.
30:30Rupert shook
30:31things up.
30:32He put
30:33the whole
30:33empire at
30:34risk and
30:35the public
30:35rewarded him
30:36for it.
30:39With his
30:40success in
30:41film and
30:42TV,
30:43Rupert and
30:44Anna moved
30:44to Los
30:44Angeles to
30:45run these
30:46companies.
30:48Meanwhile,
30:49James was
30:49enrolled in
30:50an elite prep
30:51school in
30:52Manhattan,
30:54and so he
30:54stayed behind
30:55for basically
30:56all of his
30:57teenage years.
30:59Living alone
31:00in this
31:00penthouse with
31:01Butler George
31:07just kind
31:07of doing
31:08whatever he
31:08wanted.
31:10And he
31:11and his
31:12best friend
31:12were allowed
31:13to run
31:14wild in
31:15this penthouse.
31:16They would
31:17have people
31:18over and
31:19got into
31:19a lot of
31:20trouble.
31:22But I
31:22think even
31:23then,
31:24James knew
31:25that he
31:25would be
31:26forced to
31:27work for
31:27the family
31:27business
31:28one day.
31:31Well,
31:31now,
31:31I guess you
31:31all know
31:32that the
31:32newspaper
31:32business can
31:33be a
31:34funny
31:34business.
31:35To my
31:35next guest,
31:36it happens
31:36to be a
31:37family
31:37business.
31:38She's the
31:39wife of
31:39probably the
31:39richest and
31:40the most
31:40controversial,
31:41also maybe the
31:42most influential
31:42media mogul in
31:43the world.
31:44Would you
31:44please welcome
31:45Anna Murdoch?
31:56Nice to see
31:57you again.
31:57It's nice to
31:58be with you.
31:58Now listen,
31:59the book is
32:00family business.
32:01Why would
32:02Anna Murdoch
32:03write a book
32:04about an
32:05international
32:05media mogul?
32:07That's a
32:08very obvious
32:09question.
32:13Anna famously
32:14wrote a novel
32:15called Family
32:16Business that
32:18sort of closely
32:19mirrored some
32:20of the facts
32:21of the Murdoch
32:21family.
32:23In this
32:24novel, the
32:25Rupert Murdoch
32:25character is
32:26actually a
32:26woman who,
32:28like Rupert,
32:31is incredibly
32:32passionate about
32:33newspapers and
32:34knows every
32:36detail of the
32:36process.
32:38and she has
32:40three kids that
32:41have all got
32:42claims to
32:43the business
32:44and it shows
32:45how the
32:46succession could
32:48end in tears.
32:49I wanted to
32:50show the
32:50breakup within
32:51the family,
32:51that I think
32:52power and
32:53money can
32:54actually affect
32:55sibling
32:57relationships.
32:58You have all
32:59these little
33:00fiefdoms and
33:01people arguing
33:01among themselves.
33:04I think Anna
33:05was almost a
33:06Cassandra figure
33:07in all of
33:08this.
33:10She was very
33:11prescient in
33:11knowing that
33:13this kind of
33:14inheritance was
33:16going to become
33:16a problem.
33:18And I think she
33:19was kind of
33:19advising Rupert
33:20in this novel
33:21that no good
33:22would come of
33:25it.
33:25How important
33:26is it for
33:26News Corporation
33:27to stay in
33:29family hands?
33:31To whom?
33:32How important
33:33to whom is
33:33the question?
33:35The thing
33:36about men
33:37like Rupert
33:38is that
33:40they say
33:41that they're
33:42doing everything
33:42for their
33:43family and
33:44they're building
33:44this family
33:45empire.
33:45But at the
33:46end of the
33:46day, the
33:47empire always
33:48takes precedent
33:49over the
33:49family.
33:52He says,
33:53I want one
33:54of my children
33:54to succeed me,
33:55but he doesn't
33:56say how they
33:57should succeed
33:57him, what
33:58exactly they
33:59need to do
34:00in order to
34:01get that
34:01brass ring.
34:04And it
34:06sets up
34:06exactly the
34:07dynamic that
34:08Anna didn't
34:09want.
34:11This sort
34:12of rivalry
34:13among the
34:14kids.
34:15It's like
34:16Hunger Games
34:17Murdoch style.
34:19From the
34:20time that
34:21we were
34:21very small,
34:23this is one
34:23of the other
34:24lessons that
34:24dad taught
34:24me, it
34:25has been
34:25very clear
34:26that you
34:27have to
34:27control
34:27your own
34:27destiny.
34:30Elizabeth
34:31is running
34:31her own
34:32TV stations
34:32in America.
34:33She makes
34:34some decisions
34:34that people
34:35don't like.
34:36Elizabeth
34:36takes a
34:37page out
34:38of her
34:38father's
34:39playbook.
34:40She sacks
34:40people that
34:41have been
34:41around a
34:41long time.
34:42She
34:43pisses quite
34:44a few
34:44people off,
34:44but she
34:46makes a
34:46success of
34:46those TV
34:47stations and
34:48sells them
34:49at a great
34:50profit.
34:51Rupert
34:52respects that
34:53and really
34:53sees her
34:54as a
34:55capable
34:56executive.
34:58She's
34:58maybe even
34:59a worthy
34:59protege.
35:02And then
35:02she says
35:03she's going
35:03to go
35:03and do
35:03an MBA.
35:05And Rupert
35:06brings her
35:06up and
35:06says,
35:06what do
35:07you mean
35:07do an
35:08MBA?
35:08Come and
35:08work for
35:09me.
35:11You'll
35:11learn much
35:12more.
35:14So she
35:15goes and
35:15works with
35:15her father
35:16in Britain.
35:19My father
35:20is remarkable
35:20in what
35:21he's achieved.
35:21I work as
35:22hard as I
35:22can to do
35:23as much
35:23as I
35:24can and
35:25take one
35:26challenge
35:26at a time.
35:28Lachlan
35:29moves to
35:29Brisbane
35:30and becomes
35:31junior manager
35:32at Rupert's
35:33Paper,
35:33The Courier
35:34Mail.
35:37Lachlan
35:38is elevated
35:39incredibly
35:40quickly to
35:40positions of
35:41power.
35:42He's running
35:42the Queensland
35:43newspapers
35:44at the age
35:44of 22
35:45years old.
35:46He's young,
35:47he's good
35:48looking,
35:49he's fabulously
35:50rich.
35:51Arguably,
35:52he's the most
35:52eligible bachelor
35:53in the country.
35:54With him
35:55today,
35:55he's heir apparent,
35:56son Lachlan.
35:57Lachlan Murdoch
35:58has made a
35:58faster rise to
35:59the top than
36:00Tiger Woods.
36:01Have your dad
36:01ever had this
36:02conversation with
36:02you,
36:03someday you'll
36:03run this
36:03company?
36:04No,
36:04no.
36:05My father's
36:06focused on
36:06the day-to-day.
36:08By the
36:09mid-90s,
36:10he has
36:10essentially
36:10been handed
36:11the whole
36:12of the
36:13Australian
36:13Empire.
36:14And even
36:15though Rupert
36:16officially says
36:17that any of
36:18the kids
36:18could succeed
36:20him,
36:21it seems like
36:22Lachlan is
36:23his favorite.
36:25Is there
36:26now an
36:26acceptance that
36:27your older
36:28brother Lachlan
36:29will take over
36:29eventually?
36:31I don't think
36:32that's really,
36:33you know,
36:34that's really not
36:35an issue that I
36:35concern myself with.
36:36As I said,
36:36lots of other
36:37people concern
36:38themselves.
36:38That's their
36:39business.
36:41James decided
36:42that he doesn't
36:43want to be part
36:43of the company,
36:44that he wants
36:45to make his
36:46own way.
36:48James drops
36:49out of Harvard
36:50and he goes
36:51out and he
36:52finds raucous
36:53records,
36:54seeking to
36:55show that he
36:55has a sensibility
36:56for a new
36:56generation.
36:58James is
36:59trying desperately
37:00to prove
37:01himself as an
37:01outsider.
37:03His father
37:04probably didn't
37:04even know what
37:05hip-hop was.
37:06You know,
37:07he was like
37:07the hip
37:08Murdoch.
37:09He wore an
37:10earring,
37:11so we knew
37:11he was cool.
37:15All these
37:15kids know
37:16they have to
37:17shine and
37:18impress their
37:18father.
37:19But it's
37:20clear that he's
37:21not just going
37:22to give up
37:22this empire.
37:24There was
37:24more to do.
37:26Another chapter
37:27to write.
37:28I want to
37:29stay where I'm
37:30doing as long
37:30as I'm
37:31physically fit.
37:31and I don't
37:32think my
37:33children are
37:33ready yet.
37:35They may not
37:35agree with
37:36that, but I'm
37:37certainly planning
37:38to make them
37:38wait several
37:39more years.
37:44good morning
37:45everyone.
37:45I'm Alex
37:46Acostorini.
37:47And I'm
37:47Mollick, you're
37:48topping our
37:48news this
37:49morning.
37:50That's great.
37:51Congratulations.
37:53When do you think
37:53we'll get back to
37:54you?
37:55By the late
37:5690s, Rupert
37:57Murdoch has
37:58enjoyed an
37:59enormous amount
37:59of success in
38:00the U.S.
38:05He has
38:0620th Century
38:06Fox, movie
38:08studios, television.
38:09He's a legitimate
38:11mogul, and he
38:12has the ear of
38:13politicians.
38:15Hello, Mr.
38:15Miner.
38:15Hello again.
38:16How are you?
38:17He is at the
38:19top of his
38:20game.
38:22Rupert is in
38:23his late 60s,
38:24and Anna has
38:25been waiting for
38:26years now for
38:28Rupert to retire,
38:29to start their
38:29own life together.
38:31Anna had been
38:32suggesting that
38:33Murdoch step back
38:34from the company
38:34and prepare one of
38:36their children to
38:37succeed him.
38:38He didn't want to
38:39do that at all.
38:40He was just
38:41getting started.
38:43He's getting a
38:44little antsy and
38:46decides to check
38:47out his Asia
38:48operations.
38:51While he is
38:52traveling on a
38:53tour through
38:54China, Rupert
38:56meets a young
38:57woman named
38:59Wendy Dang.
39:02She had a junior
39:03role at his
39:04company.
39:06Suddenly, Rupert
39:07is unavailable.
39:09You know, he
39:10says that he was
39:11scouting properties
39:12or traveling.
39:14Eventually, people
39:15on his staff start
39:17noticing that he's
39:19showing up with
39:19Wendy Dang here and
39:20there.
39:22It's clear pretty
39:23quickly that a
39:24friendship is
39:25blooming.
39:26Anna will say
39:27outright later that
39:28it was an affair.
39:30Rupert will deny
39:31it's an affair.
39:35He came back
39:36from Asia and
39:37set up a board
39:38meeting where he
39:40rather abruptly
39:41announced that he
39:43was going to
39:44divorce his second
39:45wife, Anna Torf
39:46Murdoch, and that
39:48she was going to be
39:48relinquishing her spot
39:50on the company
39:50board.
39:52Not long
39:53afterwards, he was
39:53telling his
39:54children that he'd
39:55met a nice
39:55Chinese lady.
39:57He rang me up
39:57and said, oh,
39:58and by the way,
39:59I've met this
39:59lady.
40:00I couldn't believe
40:01it, actually.
40:02I just thought,
40:03you dirty old man.
40:04Both Lachlan
40:05and James tried to
40:06convince Rupert not
40:08to be with Wendy.
40:09They are just
40:10aghast that Rupert
40:12would betray their
40:13mother in this way.
40:15This is a great
40:16shock to the rest
40:17of the family.
40:18And this was
40:19deeply humiliating
40:20for Anna.
40:22The wife of the
40:23media tycoon
40:23Rupert Murdoch
40:24filed for divorce
40:25in California today.
40:27The divorce papers
40:28show that Mrs.
40:28Anna Murdoch
40:29doesn't know how
40:30much her 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 dropped
40:4127 cents.
40:42Of concern,
40:43the impact the
40:44separation could
40:44have on the
40:45future ownership
40:45of the company.
40:46The stage may be
40:47set for the
40:48biggest divorce
40:49settlement ever.
40:53Because the
40:54divorce is filed
40:55in California,
40:56Anna will be
40:57entitled to
40:59half of all
41:01the wealth
41:01Murdoch built
41:02over the course
41:03of their 30
41:03years together.
41:07But throughout
41:08the whole building
41:10of the empire
41:11and the raising
41:11of the kids,
41:12she has been
41:13focused on one
41:14thing far more
41:15than money.
41:15And that's how
41:17this succession
41:18battle is going
41:18to play out
41:19between the
41:19children.
41:20She saw the
41:21way that Rupert
41:23pitted them
41:23against each
41:24other,
41:24and she didn't
41:25want that to
41:25become the
41:26defining aspect
41:27of their lives.
41:29So she decides
41:31to use her power
41:32to secure her
41:33children's control
41:34over the company
41:35going forward.
41:37And that's when
41:38she negotiates to
41:39set up the
41:40Murdoch Family
41:41Trust.
41:44Instead of going
41:45for half of his
41:46assets, which she
41:47might have been
41:47entitled to,
41:48she took only,
41:49I'll use that in
41:50quotes,
41:50only $110 million
41:54and created a trust
41:55where all of the
41:56children will,
41:57in tandem together,
42:00decide the fate of
42:00the 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
42:17of them will have
42:18equal control over
42:19the company in the
42:20future.
42:22Having equal control
42:23among four siblings
42:24is not a great idea.
42:26They could deadlock,
42:27and that could make
42:29it impossible for the
42:30company to make
42:30decisions.
42:32But I think he just
42:34trusts that it's fine.
42:36I'll deal with it
42:36later.
42:37I'll kick this can
42:38down the road.
42:41Until that moment,
42:43Rupert Murdoch has
42:44full control of his
42:45destiny.
42:46He controls the
42:47companies.
42:47He will choose his
42:48successor.
42:49But Rupert is eager,
42:51perhaps over-eager,
42:53to move on with the
42:54next chapter.
42:56And in pursuit of a
42:58second life and much
43:00younger wife, he gives
43:01up control of his
43:02empire.
43:04It's a fateful decision
43:06that will change the
43:07entire dynamic in the
43:08Murdoch family.
43:09This is the moment.
43:11The beginning of a battle
43:13that would define the
43:15family for decades.
43:17The mountains.
43:19Strange Startups.
43:29He's a hero and
43:29like you.
43:29The end.
43:30He lets you
43:30The firm named
43:30Bye.
43:30Bye.
43:30Bye.
43:31Bye.
43:31Bye.
43:32Bye.
43:39Bye.
43:46generous.
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