Lachlan Murdoch
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Lachlan Keith Murdoch (born 1971) is the elder son of media mogul, Rupert Murdoch and the former Anna Torv. He resigned from his executive positions at News Corporation on 29 July 2005. Subsequently, younger brother James Murdoch is now viewed as his father's heir-apparent.
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[edit] Biography
Lachlan was born in London, England, but was raised in a wealthy Manhattan neighbourhood, where his father owned the tabloid, the New York Post. He received his education at the exclusive Aspen Country Day School in Aspen, Colorado, as well as Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Princeton University in 1994. During summers he would work jobs ranging from cleaning printing presses to sub-editor at The Sun and The Times. At the age of 22, he was appointed general manager of Queensland Newspapers, which publishes The Courier-Mail in Brisbane. One year later, he became publisher of Australia’s first national paper, The Australian. In 1995, he was appointed Deputy CEO of News Limited, Executive Director of News Corporation since 1996, Deputy Chief Operating Officer since 2000, Senior Executive Vice President from 1999 to 2000, and Chairman of STAR since 1995.
He has been criticised as a "rich brat" for his "poor handling" of Murdoch interests in One.Tel[citation needed], which lost the empire millions of dollars. In this venture, Lachlan worked with Australian businessman James Packer, the son of Kerry Packer. Lachlan has also been attacked for trying to "Americanise" Australian newspapers. Lachlan has publicly supported the idea of Australia becoming a republic (for example in National ABC Radio AM 8.21am interview on 22nd September, 1999) [1].
Murdoch married Australian model/actress, Sarah O'Hare in 1999. They have two sons, Kalan, born in 2004, and Aidan, born on May 6, 2006[2]. Prior to 2003, Lachlan and Sarah were owners of "Berthong", a house in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, which was subsequently bought by Russell Crowe [3]. From time to time, Lachlan and Sarah host fundraising dinners for the charity "Murdoch Childrens Research Institute" [4]. Lachlan is considered to be a friend of Australian actress Nicole Kidman[5], New Zealand actor Russell Crowe and director Baz Luhrmann. Lachlan has tattoos on his forearms.
Lachlan has a strong personal interest in Australian rugby league. On March 30, 1995, Lachlan Murdoch was at the first Super League meeting in the Atanaskovic Hartnell offices in Sydney. He and former Broncos chief John Ribot signed up leading Bulldogs players on documents which were not legally effective. [6]
For the year 2001, Lachlan Murdoch earned a salary of au$2.59 million [7]. In June 2005, Lachlan received the Press & Outdoor Advertising "Media Person of The Year" award in Cannes [8]. Lachlan is one of the founding patrons (along with Anthony Pratt, Peter Lowy and Lisa Fox of an organization called "Advance", formerly known as "YAPA" (Young Australian Professionals in America). [9]
On July 29, 2005, he announced that he would be resigning from executive roles with News Corporation and moving with his family to Australia, although he would retain his seat on the board.
After his resignation, Roger Ailes, the chairman of Fox News Channel, was named chairman of News Corp.'s group of television stations. The abrupt and unexplained departure of the 33-year-old Lachlan Murdoch apparently dashed News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch's hopes that his son would one day take over as CEO of the global media empire, which includes the Twentieth Century Fox movie studio, the Fox television network, several satellite broadcasters including DirecTV, and newspapers in Britain, Australia, and the New York Post.
In the weeks after his resignation, however, he began a new venture, lodging applications to set up a new Australian company called Illyria Pty Ltd, in which he acts as sole director and secretary.
In February 2006, Lachlan attended the memorial service for Australian businessman Kerry Packer [10].
This article contains content from the defunct wiki, HierarchyPedia, used here under the GNU Free Documentation License
[edit] Quotes
[edit] By Lachlan
- "Good journalism is good business practice; good business supports great journalism." (Andrew Olle Media Lecture, 18 October 2002)
- "You can see here that the Australian media elite define their club through standards designed only to exclude." (Andrew Olle Media Lecture, 18 October 2002)
- "One of the problems with American newspapers is that the design, the look, and the feel lack any sort of vigor, that's a pity"
[edit] About Lachlan
- "He (Lachlan) was a gentleman, and he called to be sure that the contretemps last week was between him and the New York Daily News, not between him and me."
(Ken Auletta, writer for The New Yorker, after a story that the New York Post was losing $40 million a year) [12]
[edit] External links
- Some information about Lachlan
- Biographical article about Lachlan
- Reflection on Lachlans personality by one of his Princeton university teachers
- Detailed profile of Lachlan (Editor And Publisher Journal, December 16, 2002 by Joe Strupp
- Lachlan Murdoch - Libertarian from Advocates for Self-Government website
[edit] Decision to leave News Corporation
- Detailed article from the New York Magazine (September 19, 2005 by Steve Fishman) reportedly written with Lachlan's co-operation.
- Melbourne Age article
- Guardian article (August 1, 2005)
- USA Today article
[edit] Speeches
- Lachlan Murdochs "Andrew Olle Media Lecture" 18 October 2002
- National Press Club of the U.S., 21 September 1999
[edit] References
[edit] Articles
- Kirkpatrick, David, "Murdoch Gets a Jewel. Who'll Get His Crown?" New York Times, December 28, 2003.
- Milliken, Robert, "Lachlan Murdoch; Heir to the Sun and Sky," Independent (London), May 7, 1995.
- Pappu, Sridhar, "Lachlan Murdoch, Spiky Punk Heir Right for Post?" New York Observer, November 24, 2003.
- Salamon, Julie, "Television: An American Story; A Family That Tried to Be Both Rich and Good" New York Times, October 1, 2000.
- Neil Chenoweth, The Australian Financial Review on Friday, August 5, 2005, on Lachlan's involvement in Australian Super League shenanigans.
[edit] Books
- Wendy Rohm Murdoch Mission (2002). Interviews with various Murdoch family members
- Neil Chenoweth Virtual Murdoch (2001). Mainly about Rupert Murdoch
- Paul Barry, Rich Kids, Bantam Books, 2002, ISBN 1-86325-338-6
