Did a trip on Aristotle Onassis’ yacht help Murdoch make his decision?
It was the long holiday that first raised eyebrows. Rupert Murdoch, for so long someone who rarely spent more than a week at a time away from the coal face of his global media businesses, News Corp and Fox Corporation, was on board a yacht once owned by magnate Aristotle Onassis.
To charter the 99-metre-long vessel Christina O costs about $1.2 million a week, plus expenses, but in mid-July, most of the Murdoch family were spotted on board off the coast of Positano, Italy.
Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch were there, as well as Lachlan’s sister Elisabeth and her husband Keith Tyson. Nearly 40 members of the family attended, according to reports at the time.
Former scientist Elena Zhukova, pictured with Rupert Murdoch.
Over the next month, the 92-year-old was photographed with Elena Zhukova, a retired scientist, still travelling in the Mediterranean on a rented yacht. He had struck up a new romance, onlookers speculated. Zhukova, who left Russia in 1991 and had worked at the University of California, was said to be introduced to Murdoch by his ex-wife, Wendi Deng.
Sources close to the Murdochs said while Rupert’s decision to step back from active roles at both Fox and News had been a six-month process, he returned from the long European holiday weeks ago ready to make the announcement.
Aristotle Onassis’ old superyacht Christina O.
Last Thursday, his statement went live. “The time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole chairman of both companies,” Rupert wrote, in Los Angeles alongside his eldest son.
“Our companies are in robust health, as am I. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges.” He would
Read more on afr.com
