Rupert Murdoch Is Having His King Lear Moment

Rupert Murdoch Is Having His King Lear Moment
The $52.4 billion deal — which would not include Fox News, the Fox broadcast network or the FS1 sports cable channel, which will be spun off into a newly listed
company — has come about as part of the consolidation sweeping over traditional media companies as they try to fight off threats from Amazon, Apple and Netflix.
In one possible outcome, James Murdoch would take on an executive position at Disney,
and Lachlan Murdoch, who shares his father’s passion for news, would move to News Corporation or oversee the company that absorbs Fox News and the Fox broadcast channel.
The Walt Disney Company announced on Thursday it had reached a deal to acquire most of 21st Century Fox Inc., the Murdoch-owned company
that includes the storied movie and television studio, national cable networks like FX and National Geographic, 22 regional cable channels dedicated to sports and a 39 percent stake in Britain’s pay TV service, Sky.
“The Disney deal gives Lachlan a clear run to manage the remnants,” said Neil Chenoweth, an Australian financial journalist
and author of “Rupert Murdoch: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Media Wizard.”
A company insider who could only discuss ongoing deal negotiations anonymously said it was too early to know what roles the Murdoch sons would take on, and added
that James Murdoch could decide to strike out on his own.
The Disney deal would leave him without a seat at the Dolby Theater for the Academy Awards — a string of Fox Searchlight Pictures films including “Slumdog Millionaire,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Birdman” have won best picture Oscars —
but Mr. Murdoch would maintain his seat at the White House.