No One Can Stop Rupert Murdoch. That's Increasingly a Problem.

[Zorro]

What do we make of Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old patriarch of the Fox Corporation, at this moment?

We are post-Trump I but possibly on the precipice of Trump II. We are past the whopping $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems but awaiting the denouement of a similar case brought by Smartmatic. We are past the departure of Tucker Carlson and his sky-high ratings, but we are still waiting to see how the new evening lineup will fare in the increasingly cutthroat world of partisan cable television news.

Where once upon a time kings controlled their empires through vast landholdings, armies and pledges of fealty, Mr. Murdoch controls his corporate empire through the ownership of a special class of stock that gives him the largest voting stakes in his two main companies, the Fox Corporation and News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and other media properties.

In 2017, more than 40 percent of the shareholders in one Murdoch company voted to end the dual-class stock structure. But it was not enough to force the change. “It’s a corporate governance nightmare,” said Nell Minow, the vice chair of ValueEdge Advisors, a corporate governance consultancy.

As a result, there doesn’t seem to be anyone or anything at either company that can keep Mr. Murdoch from doing what he wants. That fact was less of an issue when he started Fox News nearly 30 years ago. But it’s clearly a problem now.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/04/opinion/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-dual-class-corporate-governance.html?unlocked_article_code=YqdowBuyTzdHyAiGv92ESGI795kTuLbU7QZ6O4wOf5SU28JyQuegGq95OL9rKMZ2gqyX5S3bvQHPQgrb0jxUHaMxAaZUBiNi0MrU5owNZVbFKdzIeUkAyOCI4ipembCTAs-0USTSNVQSzqQWuZbR0SkP9M7LS3Act9ob_4zYZHdMVqHRM82qTIBghiQ_yCTmje1nz_XD2CO6CDhI9hpYZoQfQeLraS3H_YE_Nt_hk8EJwrrSEfm4h6ShmaTOvxkl7L-OqGyjB1O7_kXa5toFOXOutFyBsifSYvo5Ka-h23VhLIugfayZ7QxuYVzx8wb1Ks-M9p9w83o7poinmhfWtByEZrcoJ5y4l8oqAGxmjhxNkXn59pNO7eX2IUav1BETsw&smid=url-share

[wnylib]

1. What to do about Murdoch?

He's 92 years old. Nothing to do but celebrate when he kicks the bucket, which can't be far off now.

[moose65]

5. I guess

And Charles Koch is 87. You'd think they'd get tired of this baloney at some point.

If I was in my 80s or 90s and had billions of dollars, I think I would be enjoying my last few years on earth, but that's just me.

[Casady1]

2. Who is the worst naturalized citizen

Musk or Murdoch?

[no_hypocrisy]

3. If it's any solace, Murdoch doesn't have a lot of time to achieve his long-term goal

of dominating US and/or world media. Or to extract the Royals from Buckingham Palace.

He'd better stick to a modified five-year plan.

[DoBW]

4. Stll sucking

still sucking away, still sucking today