The question of who will succeed Rupert Murdoch as boss of News Corp has been settled “very happily”, the media mogul has confirmed.
In an interview on the Charlie Rose talk show on American public television, Murdoch, 75, said that his older children – there are four altogether from his first two marriages – will control the company when he dies.
“If I go under the wheels of a bus tomorrow, the four of them will have to decide which of them should head the company,” he said.
The media tycoon’s announcement suggests he has backed off a plan to give his two youngest children – born of his third marriage to Wendi Deng – a say in the future of his media empire. The proposal was believed to have bitterly divided the Murdoch family.
A year ago, it emerged that Murdoch had proposed that control should be shared with his two youngest children: Grace, who was born in 2001, and Chloe, born in 2003.
Murdoch did not elaborate on how the family dispute had been resolved – although he did make it clear that that his two youngest children would benefit financially from the family stake in the company, even if they may not have control over any shares.
Murdoch added that the differences between him and his eldest son, Lachlan – which led to Lachlan’s resignation from News Corp a year ago – had also been resolved happily.
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