This media mogul, originally from Australia, is possibly the closest thing to that “man pulling the strings” behind the media that conspiracy theorists love to talk about. He is CEO and/or chairman of major news organizations including 21st Century Fox, News Corp, and Fox News. Currently, Rupert Murdoch’s net worth is $11.7 billion, and on the rise.
Murdoch was born in Melbourne, Australia and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1985. His father worked in news as a journalist and eventually executive of a major newspaper publisher in Australia. Instead of taking his father’s place after his death, Murdoch decided to start his own company, News Ltd., which later split into News Corp and 21st Century Fox.
Some of the most famous publications and news outlets owned by Murdoch’s media conglomerates include: Fox News, Fox Network, The Wall Street Journal, Star Magazine, HarperCollins, the New York Post, Smart Money, News of the World (UK), and The Sun (UK). Just to put things in perspective, that means he’s behind the media company that owns both the movie studio that produced movies like Avatar and Titanic, as well as the television studio that produces The Simpsons.
Aside from his power as a wealthy media mogul, Murdoch has also been politically active in his native Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He typically favors Republican policies, even when he isn’t 100% certain of a candidate’s competence. For example, in 2012, he expressed uncertainties about Mitt Romney’s campaign, but later tweeted “Of course I want him to win, save us from socialism, etc.” Murdoch has called for “comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to legal status for all illegal aliens now in the United States”, which is not typical of many Republicans. He is also a strong supporter of Israel.
