No early warning for News Corp editors on Rupert’s exit
News Corp’s Australian newspaper editors were summoned to the Murdochs’ Los Angeles compound, Chartwell, last week for strategy meetings.
They were not told that in less than a week, Rupert Murdoch would announce he would step back as chairman of News Corp and his eldest son, Lachlan, would take the reins, according to a person familiar with the briefings.
The lack of warning highlights a key message from Lachlan’s camp to the Australian business community: don’t expect rapid or widespread change. It’s business as usual – at least for the moment.
News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller and global co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch.
There has been widespread speculation that potential contenders for the leadership of News Corp’s Australian operations are waiting in the wings – Sky News Australia boss Paul Whittaker ormagazine chief Edwina McCann, for example.
Michael Miller, who was appointed executive chairman in 2015, has been in the role for nearly a decade and is said to not be as close with Lachlan as others in the business.
Others point out it was Lachlan who brought Mr Miller back to News Corp Australia after he left to lead what was then known as APN News & Media.
People close to Lachlan say News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson will remain in charge, globally, and key management are likely to remain the same in the short term. “It’s an evolution, not a revolution,” one said.
Lachlan, who steps into a “chair” role from a “co-chair” position of News Corp, has spent a lot of time with Fox Corporation. He is executive chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Corp. “I think, operationally, there will probably not be a lot of change,” a US-based source close to the Murdochs said.
“But there’s no question
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