Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there. Know that we have divided . . . our kingdom. – “King Lear”, Act 1, Scene 1
Anyone who has survived a high school drama class knows that no monarch should ever try to hand over power to several of his offspring if he wants to keep on living.
Apparently, Rupert Murdoch was not in school that day. On Thursday, the 21st Century Fox chief executive and chairman announced that he would be sharing control of empire with his two sons. Lachlan, the elder, appears to have been given the Goneril role (Goneril is one of Lear’s daughters who ultimately betrays him). He will share an office with his father, becoming co-executive chairman. James, meanwhile, takes over operational duties as chief executive.
Conveniently for those seeking Shakespearean parallels, a third child, Elisabeth, very publicly refused to play the succession game, much like Cordelia (Lear’s favourite daughter but who is ultimately banished). She distanced herself from her brothers by publicly praising the BBC – rival of the family’s Sky television service – and declined to join the board of News Corp. Last year, she stepped down as head of Shine, the TV production company that she founded and sold to her father’s group.
There is even a loyal family retainer. Chief operating officer Chase Carey will cede his day-to-day responsibilities to James Murdoch but remain a senior adviser. Long seen by investors as the steady counterweight to the impulsive Murdochs, Carey has an option in his contract to leave in December.
Theatrical parallels aside, this latest twist in the Murdoch family saga feels deeply problematic. Rupert Murdoch is handing over the reins, but not really. He retains half of the most important corporate job, and much of the power. Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes, for example, will still report to the senior Murdoch. Furthermore, the family’s genetic heritage would suggest that Rupert, 84, has many active years to come. His mother lived to be 103. She was still out campaigning for things her son’s company disagreed with – such as an Australian carbon tax – a year before her death in 2012.
Lachlan and James Murdoch have not exactly covered themselves with glory. James has run Asian and British television groups and headed up the company that operates the UK newspapers. But he became embroiled in the UK phone-hacking scandal and ended up stepping down from several posts. Lachlan, for his part, had his own period in the wilderness, resigning abruptly from News Corp in 2005. He spent nearly a decade investing in Australia, with mixed results, before returning to the company last year.
Both Murdoch sons will be under pressure to demonstrate they have the discipline needed to run a major public company that has underperformed rivals, such as Disney. Its last bold move, a bid for Time Warner, was abandoned after the media company rejected its offer. The set-up could easily become a recipe for disaster.
On the other hand, the senior Mr Murdoch should get credit for trying to set up an orderly transition. Not all media moguls are as forward thinking. Sumner Redstone, the 92-year-old executive chairman of Viacom and CBS has yet to identify a successor for either role. Reportedly in failing health, he skipped the annual shareholder meetings of both companies this year (although he did make it to a birthday party where he was serenaded by Tony Bennett). Better King Lear than Waiting for Godot?
Brooke Masters is companies editor at the Financial Times, brooke.masters@ft.com
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