Can Lachlan Murdoch rein in scandal-hit Fox as 2024 election looms?
As anointed son Lachlan Murdoch took the stage at Fox Corporation’s annual meeting in Los Angeles on Friday, he touted the potential windfall the company hoped to see from the 2024 US presidential election.
With national and local political races “heating up”, he told the gathering of execs including father Rupert, board members and shareholders that he expected next year’s pivotal election would drive “strong results across our news properties and local stations”.
The meeting rubber stamped Lachlan’s takeover as chair of Fox Corporation, days after he officially took charge of the Murdochs’ publishing division News Corp as the chosen child.
Less than a year out from the 2024 presidential election, with the warning signs for democracy flashing red and Donald Trump declaring his authoritarian intentions if reelected, the 52-year-old arguably has the power to shape US politics more than any other executive in the country.
But Lachlan is less concerned with preserving democracy than he is with protecting the company’s enormous profit machine Fox News, according to observers.
“He’s focussed on the bottom line, and is more interested in ad spends than undemocratic conduct,” Brian Stelter, the former CNN chief media correspondent and author of Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy, told The Independent.
Lachlan claimed victory in the decades-long succession drama over his brother James, but according to biographer Michael Wolff, the brothers haven’t spoken in five years and their relationship has completely broken down.
“They are beyond rivals, I would say they’re enemies,” the author of new book The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty told The Independent.
Lachlan is also effectively auditioning for the approval of his eldest siblings. His sisters Prudence and Elisabeth will have equal voting rights along with of the family trust.
