Rupert Murdoch is reportedly planning to step down as CEO of Fox News parent company 21st Century Fox “and hand that title to his son James,” according to CNBC. James Murdoch previously resigned his role as the head of News International -- which published several tabloids and newspapers abroad -- amid the widespread scandal over phone hacking at News of the World, a since-shuttered UK tabloid he oversaw. As part of the fallout from that scandal, Murdoch also resigned his position as chairman of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
According to CNBC, “Rupert Murdoch will continue to be the executive chairman of Fox, while his son Lachlan would also become an executive co-chairman of the company.”
James Murdoch has reportedly drawn the ire of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, who allegedly called him a “fucking dope” over his inability to contain the hacking scandal. (Fox News media critic Howard Kurtz claims that despite James Murdoch's new position, “Ailes will still report to Rupert.”)
A source quoted by CNBC claims “James will have the primary role in running Fox while Lachlan will take on a broader strategic role from his co-chairman position.” Lachlan Murdoch has also reportedly butted heads with Ailes in the past.
As Media Matters previously noted, James Murdoch donated between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000 to the Clinton Foundation, which has been the target of a smear campaign by conservative media figures, including near-constant scandal-mongering on Fox News.
According to federal filings, James Murdoch donated $2,300 -- the maximum amount allowed for an individual -- to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. A review of the OpenSecrets database shows Murdoch has donated to both sides of the aisle, including multiple donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee and various elected Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as Democrats like Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Steny Hoyer.
UPDATE:
Contrary to what Fox News reported last week, 21st Century Fox released a statement to the Hollywood Reporter saying that Ailes will not report directly to Rupert Murdoch. Instead, the Fox News chief “will report to Lachlan and James but will continue his unique and long-standing relationship with Rupert.”
New York magazine writer Gabriel Sherman reports that Ailes himself ordered Fox Business to read “what now appears to be a rogue statement” on-air last week that suggested he would not be directly affected by the change in management:
Just five days earlier, Ailes released what now appears to be a rogue statement to his own Fox Business channel declaring that he would be unaffected by the announcement that Lachlan and James will take control of Fox as part of Rupert's succession plan. “Roger Ailes will continue to run the news network, reporting directly to Rupert Murdoch,” Fox Business reported. According to a well-placed source, Ailes directed Fox Business executive Bill Shine to tell anchor Stuart Varney to read the statement on air. “Ailes told Shine to write the announcement of the move for Varney to say,” the source said. “In it, Ailes inserted language that he would report to Rupert.”
This was, apparently, news to Rupert. And now the Murdochs are correcting the record. “Roger will report to Lachlan and James,” a 21st Century Fox spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Watch the video of Varney reading the “rogue” statement below: