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Watch Dynasty The Murdochs Season 1 Episode 1 online in HD on Dailymotion (2026).
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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.
01:55Like 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,
03:13each 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...
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,
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,
08:50the 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
09:24of the News of the World.
09:26And 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,
09:35they follow the Rolls-Royce.
09:38But what they don't know
09:39is that the Murdochs
09:40have loaned their Rolls-Royce
09:42to the family
09:43of one of Murdoch's executives.
09:49And the executive's wife,
09:51Muriel McKay,
09:52is kidnapped instead.
09:55So the Hussein brothers
09:56are in a bind.
09:58They've kidnapped the wrong person.
09:59They don't know
10:00what to do with her.
10:01More than 100 policemen
10:03will begin an even more
10:04intense search
10:05of the farm buildings
10:06and surrounding fields.
10:09The brothers were ultimately
10:10apprehended by police.
10:12But the body of Muriel McKay
10:14was never found.
10:19And for the Murdochs,
10:20it was also traumatic
10:22because they knew
10:23that the attempt
10:24had been on Anna Murdoch's life.
10:27You were the intended target
10:29for the kidnappers.
10:31That must have been
10:32a nightmare.
10:34It wasn't so bad for us
10:36as it was for Alec McKay.
10:38But certainly one has
10:39to think about it.
10:40And it colored
10:41my time there
10:42in Britain
10:43after that happened.
10:45It shakes their sense
10:47that Britain is a safe place
10:48for them to be.
10:49She worries about
10:51her own safety,
10:51but she really worries
10:53about 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
11:12her own car
11:13and there was
11:14an elderly woman
11:15trying to cross the road
11:18and she hit the woman
11:19and killed her.
11:25No media did publish
11:27the details.
11:29I mean,
11:30this terrible accident
11:31happened 50 years ago
11:34and we still
11:35don't know
11:36very much about it.
11:38This is
11:39a terrible tragedy
11:40and it shakes
11:42Anna to her core.
11:45First,
11:46there had been
11:46the attempt
11:47on her life
11:49and the accident
11:51was the last straw.
11:53Anna Murdoch
11:53is desperate
11:54to leave England
11:55behind her.
12:02You went to America
12:03with the family?
12:04Yes,
12:05I took my children
12:05to New York.
12:09The Murdochs
12:10moved to
12:10a fabulous apartment
12:11just across the road
12:13from Central Park.
12:15It was this penthouse
12:16apartment
12:17that had a private elevator
12:20and a butler
12:21named George
12:22who catered
12:24to every whim.
12:26Anything that they
12:27could ever want
12:28or need
12:29was given to them.
12:31I suppose we lived
12:33a very privileged
12:34lifestyle
12:34comparative
12:35to some of the people
12:36that we grew up with
12:37but we didn't think
12:39of ourselves
12:39as special at all.
12:41The kids
12:42were afforded
12:43every luxury imaginable.
12:46They had
12:47the best educations,
12:48they went to
12:49the best schools.
12:51So,
12:52they were all
12:53a part of this
12:54ecosystem
12:55of the most
12:57wealthy
12:58and powerful
12:58people in the city.
13:02Tell us about
13:03your father
13:04a little bit.
13:04Tell us the best
13:05thing about your dad.
13:07Best thing?
13:08Yes.
13:09Um,
13:10let's see.
13:12Um,
13:13well,
13:14he always likes
13:14to go camping
13:15with us
13:16and we'll go,
13:17actually,
13:17we're going camping
13:18after the Olympics
13:19for a week.
13:20Does he spend
13:21a lot of time
13:22with you?
13:23Yes.
13:26When James
13:27and Lachlan
13:28were really young,
13:29they were treated
13:30almost like twins.
13:31They were only
13:32born 15 months
13:33apart and
13:34as little boys,
13:36they were almost
13:36inseparable.
13:37They liked to play
13:39knights together
13:40and build forts
13:42and, you know,
13:43get into
13:43little boy trouble
13:45together.
13:46When they argued,
13:48Rupert almost welcomed
13:49the competition
13:50between his children.
13:52He never stepped
13:53in to stop it.
13:54He just let them
13:55fight.
13:56When you were
13:57growing up,
13:58what sort of kind
13:59of pecking order
13:59in the family?
14:01No, I used
14:02to beat them up.
14:04Um,
14:05but we were always
14:06a very, very close
14:06family.
14:09For the Murdochs,
14:10family life
14:11was organized
14:12around Rupert's
14:14professional world
14:15where he was
14:15king of the castle.
14:18From a very early
14:19age, I'm talking
14:19now seven years
14:20old and eight
14:21years old,
14:22we began to
14:22understand that
14:23we were part
14:23of the media
14:24business.
14:26Liz and James
14:27and I would
14:27come up to
14:28breakfast before
14:28we had to
14:29get the bus
14:29to school
14:30and all the
14:31papers would
14:32come out.
14:33And as we
14:33read the papers,
14:34my dad would
14:35be handing out
14:36stories to us
14:36and say,
14:36read that and
14:37see this.
14:37We'd say,
14:38look at that
14:38headline.
14:38That's a
14:39shocking headline.
14:41All of the
14:42kids wanted
14:44Rupert's
14:44attention and
14:45there was a
14:46finite amount
14:47of it to go
14:47around.
14:48so invariably
14:50the kids
14:51ended up
14:52competing for
14:53it.
14:53We knew
14:54that you
14:55had to be
14:56part of that
14:56world in
14:57some ways
14:57if you were
14:58going to be
14:58engaged with
14:59him.
15:01James told
15:01me this story
15:02about how
15:03his dad was
15:04always so
15:04distracted and
15:06would often
15:06not respond to
15:07James when
15:08he was talking.
15:10James once
15:10asked his mom,
15:11is daddy
15:12going deaf?
15:15No, he's
15:16just not
15:16listening.
15:19Rupert
15:20is always
15:21moving and
15:22like a shark
15:23you die if
15:24you stop
15:24moving.
15:25He asks
15:26himself,
15:26what do my
15:27competitors
15:27know?
15:28What do I
15:29know that
15:29they don't
15:29know?
15:30Three blocks
15:31and you make
15:31a left.
15:32Follow that
15:33down.
15:33What Rupert
15:34liked about
15:34America was
15:35it wasn't
15:36old.
15:36It wasn't
15:37stuck in
15:37the past.
15:38He saw a
15:39huge landscape
15:40he could
15:40paint on.
15:43And that's
15:43exciting for
15:44an entrepreneur.
15:45He could do
15:46whatever he
15:46wanted.
15:48Murdoch bought
15:49the New York
15:50Post in 1976
15:51and on the
15:53very first day
15:54that Rupert
15:54took over the
15:55paper, door
15:56bursts open
15:57at 6 a.m.
15:58in the morning
15:58and he just
15:59walks in,
16:00his things he
16:01wants changed.
16:03What Murdoch
16:04wants to do
16:05is to win
16:06over the
16:07white working
16:08class who are
16:09reading the
16:10daily news.
16:10He's going
16:11to draw them
16:12to the
16:12New York
16:12Post.
16:13And in
16:141977, he
16:16got his
16:17chance.
16:20We bring
16:20you the
16:21following NBC
16:22News special
16:23report.
16:24Darkness
16:24takes the
16:25city.
16:27The New York
16:28City area and
16:28its 10 million
16:29people were
16:30blocked off.
16:31And tonight
16:32large parts of
16:33the city still
16:33are without
16:34power.
16:36There was
16:36looting, there
16:37was crime, and
16:39people felt that
16:40New York was
16:41just out of
16:42control.
16:43All the big
16:44columnists and
16:44all the papers
16:45are out in the
16:45streets.
16:46And many
16:47reporters were
16:48liberal in their
16:49views about these
16:50things.
16:51And they are
16:52writing about how
16:53the blackout has
16:54brought inequality
16:56in the city to
16:57the surface.
16:58So Rupert brings
17:00in his favorite
17:00correspondent, Steve
17:01Dunleavy.
17:03And Dunleavy knows
17:05the story that
17:05Rupert wants.
17:07He sees it through
17:09the eyes of the
17:09cops.
17:11So he says, I'll
17:12go to the poor
17:12neighborhood and
17:13I'll write about
17:13the breakdown in
17:14law and order.
17:19Playing to the
17:20white flight crowd.
17:23And it works.
17:25It sells papers.
17:28So Rupert says,
17:30that's what my
17:31newspaper's gonna be.
17:34He's building a new
17:36constituency, white
17:37working class
17:39readers, but with a
17:41populist right-leaning
17:42slant.
17:44Pre-Murdoch, the
17:45post was pretty much
17:47a blue-collar but
17:48educated readership.
17:50I don't know what
17:51comes after blue-collar,
17:52but whatever the
17:53color of the collar
17:54is, that's where
17:55Rupert Murdoch took
17:57it.
17:58If you don't do
17:59what I want, then
18:00you know, it's gonna
18:01be your fault not
18:02my fault, but it
18:03doesn't work.
18:04Rupert was making
18:05the New York Post
18:05like his British
18:06tabloids with lots
18:08of sex, lots of
18:09crime, sensationalist
18:10headlines.
18:11Headless body and
18:13topless bar, that's
18:14still legendary.
18:16He is doing a very
18:17good job, a superb
18:18job, and all his
18:20publications are more
18:21interesting than they
18:22have 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
18:31paper to being this
18:33paper that became
18:34controversial.
18:35Read on a belly if it's
18:36positive.
18:37And everybody either
18:39loved us or hated us.
18:41You're on a sleazy
18:42newspaper.
18:43Not true.
18:45Rupert became a villain
18:46for a lot of people.
18:48Rupert Murdoch.
18:48Controversial Australian
18:49published attack.
18:51Publishing said a given
18:52Murdoch's reputational
18:53newspapers in the world.
18:55But that disdain that
18:58sort of polite society
18:59had for Rupert Murdoch
19:01actually helped kind of
19:03bring the kids together
19:05and bring the family
19:06together.
19:06That's my son, James.
19:08James, are you in the
19:09newspaper business, too?
19:10I want to be.
19:11Do you really?
19:11Yeah.
19:12Tell us about your dad.
19:13We only know him through
19:13the newspapers.
19:14How would you describe
19:15your dad?
19:16Um, well, different from
19:18what the newspapers say
19:20and the TV shows.
19:21Well, I think the papers
19:24and the shows about him
19:26and stuff make him look
19:27a little, like, too mean
19:30and dark and sinister.
19:32And really, he's a really
19:34nice person, a fun person.
19:36Sometimes, eh?
19:37Yeah.
19:38When you're behind.
19:43I remember one cover
19:44of Time magazine that had
19:46my father's King Kong on top
19:48of the World Trade Center
19:50with, you know, little
19:51biplanes trying to shoot him
19:52down.
19:53And that was the first
19:54memory that I had that,
19:56well, you know, the other
19:57dads at school weren't on
20:00the cover of Time magazine
20:01portrayed as this monster.
20:04All these kids were very
20:06aware of the disapproval that
20:09many New Yorkers had for
20:11their father.
20:12And so it was something that
20:13forged their identity.
20:16I mean, Liz told me that if
20:18you see people constantly
20:19attacking your father, you
20:20just want to band together.
20:22And that's what they did,
20:24at least for a while.
20:29It's always been the kids'
20:30destiny that they're going
20:31to run the company.
20:32They're told that from a very
20:33early age.
20:35One day, one of you will be
20:37running the Murdoch Empire.
20:39They don't know who it's going
20:40to be.
20:41They know they're going to have
20:41to compete.
20:44This is part of the game that
20:46Rupert Murdoch has played with
20:47his family.
20:49It's going to be a long
20:50battle.
20:51They know they're going to have
20:52to prove themselves.
20:53And so as competitors for
20:55Rupert's affections and
20:57ultimately for the succession,
21:01all the kids have played a
21:03different game.
21:05First and foremost, we have
21:06prudence.
21:08Rue was from a previous
21:10marriage, had a different
21:11mother.
21:11So that made her feel like a
21:13little more of an outsider.
21:17Prudence, from relatively
21:18early on, decides she doesn't
21:19want to be a major player in
21:20this.
21:22You know, it's a big buzz being
21:24around Dad.
21:24You know, it's very exciting
21:26what he does.
21:27And I'm sure if I'd been around
21:30him longer, I may well have
21:31wanted to do that.
21:32But I always wanted to be
21:35independent.
21:38Next up is Elizabeth.
21:42Yeah, I think you just said
21:43that of his children, you're
21:45the one who's most like him.
21:48Really?
21:49Um, possibly.
21:52I don't quite know what that
21:53means to be most like my, my
21:55old man.
21:57Elizabeth is the oldest child in
21:59his marriage to Anna Murdoch.
22:02She is shrewd and ambitious in
22:05her own way.
22:07She has her dad's creative
22:09streak in a way that her
22:10brothers don't.
22:13So she's sent to be a
22:14researcher on a pretty crappy
22:16little current affairs program
22:17in Sydney, which is kind of the
22:19lowest of the low in that
22:20position.
22:21She serves a couple of years
22:22doing that.
22:24And then she persuades Rupert to
22:26lend her some money to go and
22:27buy a couple of TV stations.
22:34Who are you most like of your
22:37mother and father?
22:38I'm like, I don't know.
22:39Um, I think I'm, I'm, I'm
22:41hopefully I'm a mixture of both.
22:43Um, yeah, hopefully I've got my
22:44mother's looks.
22:46Yeah.
22:49Lachlan has always been the
22:52dutiful son.
22:55He's kind of the mini
22:56Rupert, self-consciously
22:59emulative of his dad.
23:02Lachlan did a little
23:03apprenticeship at the Times and
23:05the Sun in London.
23:07I was cleaning out the
23:08inkwells.
23:09But having said that, I
23:10understand that the basics of
23:12printing, you know, a lot better
23:14than a lot of executives around
23:15the place.
23:17And then I went to university.
23:20Lachlan went to Princeton and
23:22was pretty low key.
23:25His main passion was actually
23:27not academic at all.
23:29It was rock climbing.
23:31He was climbing eight hours a
23:33day and he was good at it.
23:35I studied philosophy and
23:37specifically sort of ethics.
23:40But I wasn't a great student.
23:42I tended to leave everything to
23:44the last minute.
23:45That's, that's the journalist
23:46in here perhaps.
23:47Absolutely.
23:48That's right.
23:48Pushing those deadlines whenever
23:49I can.
23:54James is more of an introvert.
23:56He's very bright, very
23:58articulate, but he was always
24:01seen as kind of the problem
24:02son.
24:03He had famously done an
24:05internship in an Australian
24:07newspaper and been photographed
24:09asleep on a couch as though he
24:12was bored with the news meeting
24:14that he was sitting in on.
24:15As it turned out, he had been up
24:16all night on an assignment and was
24:18exhausted.
24:20He just had this kind of
24:21rebellious streak that was always
24:23manifesting in different ways.
24:24For example, he somewhat
24:26infamously dropped out of school
24:28for a while to follow the Grateful
24:30Dead on tour.
24:32That was something that was used to
24:33sort of mock and ridicule him.
24:35And Lachlan was dutifully kind of
24:37taking the measure of his younger
24:39brother's missteps.
24:46If there's any such thing as the New York
24:49establishment, here it is from the
24:51wonderful world of politics,
24:53commerce, labor and industry.
24:55Their guest on this occasion,
24:57Rupert Murdoch.
24:58Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate
25:01your invitation to appear before
25:04such a distinguished group.
25:07By the 1980s, Rupert's pretty
25:10triumphant.
25:12He's got this wonderfully
25:13influential right-wing tabloid
25:15at a time when the city is right for
25:17it.
25:17The role of a newspaper should be
25:19to provoke debate.
25:21No apologies for anything.
25:24The Murdoch Empire is sprawling
25:27with assets in the U.S., U.K.
25:29and Australia.
25:31Here it is, man.
25:33Here it is.
25:35Rupert wants to have real power
25:37and he recognizes that that kind
25:39of power comes not just through
25:41news, but through shaping politics.
25:45He's got a giant goal in mind
25:47and he can only get it with the help
25:50of powerful politicians.
25:53And so he starts making friends
25:56with the biggest names in New York
25:57society.
25:59Rupert and Donald Trump are in
26:01the same ecosystem.
26:07And Roy Cohn is there.
26:10Roy Cohn is the famous advisor
26:13of Donald Trump who gives him the
26:15playbook of how the media works
26:18and how to be the person he is today.
26:21I would do anything that is legally
26:23permissible to get my client to win.
26:27Cohn tells Rupert about backroom deals
26:31and who's in power and who's not.
26:34Cohn gets him in touch with Roger Stone.
26:37They're the New York Republicans behind Reagan.
26:41We will make America great again.
26:45Thank you very much.
26:49Rupert is keen to turn the political
26:52influence that he has as a media proprietor
26:55into commercial advantage.
26:59So he gets behind a politician in a way
27:01that the New York Post hadn't ever really done.
27:05Governor, are you prepared to take
27:07the Constitutional oath?
27:08I am.
27:09You place your left hand on the Bible
27:10and raise your right hand.
27:12There's a lot Rupert needs
27:13and he can only get it from
27:16a friendly presidential administration.
27:22What Rupert wants to do is unheard of.
27:24At the time, a brazen idea.
27:28He wants to start a fourth television network.
27:32This was a time where you can't imagine it
27:34because today there's so much media everywhere.
27:37But at that time,
27:38there was only the three networks.
27:42This is CBS.
27:43This is ABC.
27:45History and logic say
27:46a fourth broadcast network is a long shot.
27:49But Rupert Murdoch doesn't always play the percentages.
27:52If we pull it off,
27:53it'll be a real feather in our cap.
27:56There were these regulations
27:57that made it hard for someone like Rupert Murdoch
27:59to waltz in and say,
28:01I'm going to start a network.
28:02For instance,
28:03you couldn't have a television station
28:06and a newspaper in the same city.
28:08You couldn't have more than
28:09X number of stations in the whole country.
28:12So who's going to help Rupert 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 both a paper
28:28and a television station in the same market.
28:31And then he had to become an American citizen
28:34to own a broadcast network.
28:35Media magnate Rupert Murdoch today
28:37renounced his Australian citizenship
28:39to become an American.
28:41He goes in a back door
28:42in a New York City federal courthouse
28:43and emerges the same day
28:45with his citizenship in hand.
28:47Like, that's what happens
28:48when you help Ronald Reagan get elected.
28:50Would you be kind enough to stop for a moment
28:52and maybe give us three or four questions?
28:55You'll see this time and time again in his career.
28:58It's always about picking the right politician
29:00to get the regulation out of his way
29:02to get the thing he needs for the next conquest.
29:05Rupert is learning how to use power.
29:09And boom, the Fox Network was born.
29:23Fox wants to become an alternative
29:25for viewers bored with standard network fare.
29:28The three networks did the same thing.
29:31They offered the same hot dog.
29:32Isn't he cute?
29:33I call him Scotty.
29:35And these guys are like,
29:36hamburgers, time for hamburgers.
29:41Rupert really hit it out of the park
29:43with Fox Network.
29:44Welcome to Men on Film.
29:47Oh, there was nothing like it.
29:48Oh, crap!
29:50The comedy shows had the snarkiness and attitude.
29:53How'd he take a picture of me
29:54so he can remember me when I was beautiful?
29:56What, you're gonna get worse?
29:59Brass shows play to the same kind of interests
30:01that might appeal to a tabloid newspaper viewer.
30:04Shut up and take the picture.
30:09He took from the 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 for television
30:21that did not exist.
30:23Seems to have made us very popular
30:24with the viewers
30:25and very unpopular with our competitors.
30:27And that's a pretty good place to be.
30:30Rupert shook things up.
30:32He put the whole empire at risk.
30:34And the public rewarded him for it.
30:39With his success in film and TV,
30:43Rupert and Anna moved to Los Angeles
30:45to run these companies.
30:48Meanwhile, James was enrolled
30:50in an elite prep school in Manhattan.
30:53And so he stayed behind
30:55for basically all of his teenage years,
30:59living alone in this penthouse
31:01with Butler George.
31:07Just kind of doing whatever he wanted.
31:10And he and his best friend
31:12were allowed to run wild in this penthouse.
31:16They would have people over
31:18and got into a lot of trouble.
31:22But I think even then,
31:24James knew that he would be forced
31:26to work for the family business one day.
31:31Well, now, I 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 a family business.
31:38She's the wife of probably the richest
31:40and the most controversial,
31:41also maybe the most influential
31:42media mogul in the world.
31:44Would you please welcome Anna Murdoch?
31:56Nice to see you again.
31:57It's nice to be with you.
31:59Now, listen, the book is family business.
32:01Why would Anna Murdoch write a book
32:04about an international media mogul?
32:07That's a very obvious question.
32:13Anna famously wrote a novel
32:15called Family Business
32:17that sort of closely mirrored
32:19some of the facts of 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 about newspapers.
32:34and knows every detail of the process.
32:38And she has three kids
32:41that have all got claims to the business.
32:44And it shows how the succession
32:47could end in tears.
32:49I wanted to show the breakup
32:50within the family
32:51that I think power and money
32:54can actually affect sibling relationships.
32:58You have all these little fiefdoms
33:00and people arguing among themselves.
33:04I think Anna was almost
33:06a Cassandra figure
33:07in all of this.
33:10She was very prescient
33:11in knowing
33:12that this kind of inheritance
33:15was going to become a problem.
33:18And I think she was kind of advising Rupert
33:20in this novel
33:21that no good would come of it.
33:25How important is it
33:26for a news corporation
33:27to stay in family hands?
33:30To whom?
33:32How important to whom
33:33is the question?
33:35The thing about men like Rupert
33:38is that
33:40they say that they're doing everything
33:42for their family
33:43and they're building this family empire.
33:45But at the end of the day,
33:47the empire always 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 they need to do
34:00in order to get that brass ring.
34:05And it sets up
34:06exactly the dynamic
34:08that Anna didn't want.
34:12This sort of rivalry
34:13among the kids.
34:15It's like Hunger Games,
34:17Murdoch style.
34:19From the time
34:20that we were very small,
34:22this is one of the other lessons
34:24that Dad taught me,
34:25it has been very clear
34:26that you have to control
34:27your 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 playbook.
34:40She sacks people
34:41that have been around
34:41a long time.
34:42And she pisses
34:43quite a few people off,
34:44but she makes a success
34:46of those TV stations
34:47and sells them
34:49at a great profit.
34:51Rupert respects that
34:53and really sees her
34:54as a capable executive.
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,
35:07what 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 work as hard as I can
35:23to do as much as I can
35:24and I take one challenge
35:26at a time.
35:28Lachlan moves to Brisbane
35:30and becomes junior 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 of 22 years old.
35:46He's young,
35:47he's good looking,
35:49he'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,
36:03someday you'll run this company?
36:04No, no.
36:05My father's focused on
36:06the day-to-day.
36:08By the mid-90s,
36:10he's essentially been
36:11handed the whole
36:12of the Australian empire.
36:14And even though
36:15Rupert officially says
36:17that any of the kids
36:19could succeed him,
36:21it seems like Lachlan
36:22is his favorite.
36:25Is there now
36:26an acceptance
36:27that your elder brother
36:28Lachlan will take over
36:29eventually?
36:31Um, I don't think
36:32that's really,
36:34yeah, that's really
36:34not an issue
36:35that I concern myself with.
36:36As I said, I...
36:37Lots of other people
36:37concern themselves with it.
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
36:45to make his own way.
36:48James drops out of 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 desperately
37:00to prove himself
37:01as an outsider.
37:03His father probably
37:04didn't even know
37:05what hip-hop was.
37:06You know,
37:07he was like
37:07the hip Murdoch.
37:10He wore an earring,
37:11so we knew he was cool.
37:15All these kids
37:16know they have to shine
37:17and impress their father.
37:19But it's clear
37:21that he's not just
37:21going to give up
37:22this empire.
37:24There was more to do.
37:26Another chapter
37:27to write.
37:28I want to stay
37:29what I'm doing
37:30as long as I'm physically fit.
37:32I don't think
37:32my children are ready yet.
37:35They may not agree
37:36with that,
37:37but I'm certainly planning
37:38to make them wait
37:39several more years.
37:44Good morning, everyone.
37:45I'm Alex DiCostorini.
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 in the U.S.
38:05He has 20th Century Fox,
38:07movie studios,
38:09television.
38:10He is a legitimate
38:11mogul,
38:12and he has
38:13the ear of politicians.
38:14Hello, Mr. Murdoch.
38:16Hello again.
38:16How are you?
38:18He is at the top
38:20of his game.
38:22Rupert is in his late 60s,
38:24and Anna has been waiting
38:26for years now
38:27for Rupert to retire,
38:29to start their own
38:30life together.
38:31Anna had been suggesting
38:32that Murdoch
38:33step back from the company
38:34and prepare one of their children
38:36to succeed him.
38:38He didn't want to do that at all.
38:40He was just getting started.
38:43He's getting a little antsy
38:45and decides to check out
38:48his Asia operations.
38:51While he is traveling
38:53on a tour through China,
38:56Rupert meets a young woman
38:58named Wendy Dang.
39:02She had a junior role
39:04at his company.
39:06Suddenly, Rupert is unavailable.
39:09You know, he says
39:10that he was scouting 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 pretty quickly
39:23that a friendship
39:24is blooming.
39:26Anna will say outright
39:27later that it was an affair.
39:30Rupert will deny
39:31it's an affair.
39:35He came back from Asia
39:37and set up
39:38a board meeting
39:39where he rather abruptly
39:41announced
39:42that he was going
39:43to divorce
39:44his second wife,
39:46Anna Torf Murdoch,
39:47and that she was going
39:48to be relinquishing
39:49her spot on the company board.
39:52Not long afterwards,
39:53he was telling his children
39:54that he'd met
39:55a nice Chinese lady.
39:57He rang me up and said,
39:58oh, and by the way,
39:59I've met this lady.
40:00I couldn't believe it, actually.
40:02I just thought,
40:03you dirty old man.
40:04Both Lachlan and James
40:06tried to convince Rupert
40:07not to be with Wendy.
40:09They are just aghast
40:11that Rupert would betray
40:12their mother
40:13in this way.
40:15This is a great shock
40:16to the rest of the family.
40:18And this was deeply
40:19humiliating for Anna.
40:22The wife of the media tycoon
40:23Rupert Murdoch
40:24filed for divorce
40:25in California today.
40:27The divorce papers show
40:28that Mrs. Anna Murdoch
40:29doesn't know
40:30how much her husband's
40:31business interests
40:32are worth,
40:33that she means to find out.
40:35Their divorce exposes
40:36the assets of one
40:37of the world's richest men.
40:39News Corporation's
40:40share price dropped
40:4127 cents.
40:42Of concern,
40:43the impact the separation
40:44could have on the future
40:45ownership of the company.
40:46The stage may be set
40:48for the biggest
40:49divorce settlement ever.
40:53Because the divorce
40:55is filed in California,
40:57Anna will be entitled
40:58to half of all
41:01the wealth Murdoch built
41:02over the course
41:03of their 30 years together.
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 aspect
41:27of their lives.
41:29So she decides
41:31to use her power
41:32to secure
41:32her children's control
41:34over the company
41:35going forward.
41:37And that's when
41:38she negotiates
41:39to set up
41:40the Murdoch Family 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,
41:59decide 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
42:15and 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 trusts
42:34that 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,
42:51perhaps over-eager,
42:53to move on
42:54with the next chapter.
42:56And in pursuit
42:57of a second life
42:58and much younger life,
43:00he gives up
43:01control of his empire.
43:05It'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
43:12of a battle
43:13that would define
43:14the family
43:15for decades.
43:17is who we fall!
43:21The end
43:41is who we fall!
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