Like his father, The Son King divides opinion
Like his father, and his father’s father, Lachlan Murdoch has ink in his DNA.
As a young teenager, Lachlan, the third of Rupert Murdoch’s six children, began cleaning ink and oil from printing presses in Queensland, the first of his many roles at the sprawling News Corp empire.
Lachlan, 52, now stands at the top of the heap, controlling assets in cable television, digital real estate and media-related investments. He has the keys to the kingdom his father built, changing media and politics in the process.
Lachlan’s time: The golden child’s ascendancy is complete, but it was not always a sure thing. The New York Times
Murdoch jnr, like his father, divides opinion. He can be incredibly charming and charismatic. There are those that call him passionate about news and a straight shooter.
Long-time friend James Packer says he thinks Lachlan will do very well.
“He’s following in the footsteps of a true legend in Rupert, one of the biggest, and that’s never easy,” Packer tells AFR Weekend. “But I think Lachlan will do a very good job indeed. He’s a quality person and as someone who considers him a great friend and a man of real character, I’m very happy for him and I’m very happy for Rupert.”
“Rupert deserves to be immensely proud of what he’s built and created,” Packer adds.
But there are also those who have been in Lachlan’s crosshairs, perceived as an enemy or to have crossed him. They might call him extremely vindictive and prickly. Once out of the tent, there is very rarely a way back in.
Rupert Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff wrote that his subject had “a basic disregard for what anybody says about him”, and simply didn’t sue for defamation. The same cannot be said for Lachlan, who famously sued Private Media, publisher
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