Rupert Murdoch’s media empire might have been built on writing about scandals, but the media mogul gained quite a reputation for himself on the way. The 94-year-old’s name has been involved in multiple high-profile scandals. One of the famous ones involved the election fraud lawsuit that also included Donald Trump.
Rupert Murdoch is considered to be one of the most affluential men in the media world. The mogul owns the world-renowned television Fox. He is also the owner of major newspapers such as The Times and The Sun.
Murdoch founded the News Corporation which was later split into two companies News Corp and 21st Century Fox. Under his two companies, the mogul owns more than a hundred local, national, and international publishing outlets.
The 94-year-old built his empire after inheriting his father’s small newspaper business. The Australian native was born in Melbourne to Keith Murdoch and Elisabeth Greene. Murdoch made a name for himself in the 1950s and 1960s after he went on a streak of newspapers in Australia and New Zealand.
If there is anything Murdoch is known for other than being a success story in the media world, it is the scandals he has been involved in. Some of them include his wiretapping scandal, sexual assault allegations, and even a scandal involving the 2020 U.S. elections.
Dominion Voting Systems, an American company that produces and sells electronic voting hardware and software sued Fox News. The former sued the news network based on defamation. Fox News was accused of spreading fake news about election fraud during the 2020 U.S. elections.
Dominion Voting Systems’ $787.5 million settlement with Fox News over false election conspiracy theories is just one chapter in Murdoch’s tumultuous media empire pic.twitter.com/IAQVQnsRbj
— Nadeem Ansari FCIM F IDM (@nadeemansary) September 25, 2023
Dominion Voting Systems claimed that the news network was well aware that the news they were reporting was false but did it anyway to boost their ratings. During the election, Murdoch asked Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott to call Pennsylvania for Biden “as soon as” he gets 35,000 votes ahead of Biden. During the lawsuit, Murdoch admitted that he knew Trump’s election fraud claims were false but still aired the news.
Murdoch has also been accused of protecting men accused of sexual misconduct in the past. Roger Ailes, founder of Fox, and Bill O’Reilly were accused of sexual harassment in 2016. Murdoch received significant backlash for allegedly protecting the men throughout their careers.
Both men were accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women working at Fox. Even though Ailes and O’Reilly stepped down from their positions, Murdoch was accused of promoting a toxic work environment.
Six years ago today, I took a frightening leap into the unknown and made the decision to file a harassment lawsuit against my boss at FOX News, Roger Ailes. People say it was brave, but when I look back, it was simply just me doing something that my heart told me would be right.. pic.twitter.com/SfAv8enPOH
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) July 6, 2022
Gretchen Carlson who was a journalist at Fox News spoke out about how the news network managed to protect these men in power using legally binding paperwork. In an interview with TIME, the former Fox employee revealed how she was made to sign an NDA that prohibited her from talking about her workplace experience publicly.
After the 2o2o U.S. election vote concluded, Murdoch decided to step down as the chairman of both his corporations. In 2023, he resigned from News Corporation and Fox Corporation effective immediately.
