Who's who: Meet the Murdoch Family

 Over the past 70 years, media mogul Rupert Murdoch built a small Australian family newspaper company into arguably the most powerful conservative media empire in history. With a market cap of $13.50 billion, News Corp is one of the most influential companies on the planet.

The story behind the ruthless business tactics, political maneuvering and dynastic family battles that have gone into the making of this media powerhouse would be perfect fodder for one of the News Corp news outlets or TV channels, if it were not about Rupert himself. Now, as the seemingly invincible figure advances into his nineties, speculation through the worlds of business, politics and entertainment about who will succeed him as the leader of News Corp has reached a fever pitch.

Here's a look at who's who in the potential line of succession and the wider Murdoch clan.

Patriarch

Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp and co-chairman of 21st Century Fox, at the Sun Valley Resort in 2018.

Rupert Murdoch

Australian-born Rupert Murdoch, 91, is the media magnate who grew the small newspaper company he inherited from his father in 1952 into News Corporation, Ltd., the multi-billion dollar global media empire with a presence in cable, film, television, internet, satellite, sports, publishing and other fields. At different points the conglomerate has included the newspapers News of the World, the Sun, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal; Twentieth Century Fox film studio; the Fox Broadcasting network; Fox News Channel; HarperCollins publishing, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Murdoch has been married four times and fathered six children over the course of his seven-decades long career. Several of Murdoch's children have followed him into the family business. Murdoch's penchant for pitting the siblings against each other in a years' long competition to see who will succeed him as head of News Corp is widely believed to be the inspiration for the popular HBO series, "Succession."

Murdoch's ruthlessness extends far beyond his family circle. Early in his career he developed the tactic of confronting competition by buying them or running them out of business. Dealings at his British tabloid papers came under scrutiny in 2011 when it was discovered reporters were hacking the phones of royals, celebrities, and crime victims to get their stories. The Murdoch family brand made headlines again when Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes was forced to resign amid sexual harassment allegations in 2016.

Murdoch still holds the top post at News Corp, the second incarnation of the now defunct News Corporation which broke up into two companies in 2013. It is unclear who will lead the company when he passes.

Potential Heirs

Lachlan Murdoch in 2018.

Lachlan Murdoch

Lachlan Murdoch, 50, is Rupert Murdoch's oldest son with his second wife, Anna. He began learning the family business at a young age through internships at his father's media outlets. He rose quickly through the executive ranks and by 1997 had become chairman and chief executive of News Ltd. At the time, his father described Lachlan as his heir apparent, "the first among equals." His ascension continued smoothly until 2005. That year, Lachlan abruptly quit his executive positions at News Corporation after a battle with Ailes over the direction of the cable news network -- effectively taking himself off the heir apparent track. Lachlan then launched his own investment company, Illyria Pty, in Australia. After an extended absence, Lachlan returned to the family business in 2014 and resumed his position as a potential heir to the empire, becoming CEO of Fox Broadcasting and executive chairman at 21st Century Fox. Shortly after, Lachlan's younger brother James was tapped to be CEO of 21st Century Fox in a power-sharing experiment orchestrated by Rupert between the brothers. The experiment proved unsuccessful, and Rupert sold 21st Century Fox to Disney in 2019. Lachlan now holds the roles of executive chair and CEO of Fox Corporation and co-chairman of News Corp, as well as executive chairman of NOVA Entertainment, an Australian media company.

James Murdoch in 2019.

James Murdoch

James Murdoch, 49, is Rupert Murdoch's fourth child and second son with his second wife, Anna. James' early career choices was at odds with his father's conservative newspaper empire. He dropped out of Harvard in 1995 to start his own hip-hop record label, Rawkus Records. After several years, he transitioned into executive roles within News Corporation and assumed the role of corporate company man. After Lachlan quit Fox in 2005, James was increasingly seen as the new heir apparent to his father.

In 2007, James became chairman of BSkyB. In 2011, he was named deputy COO of News Corporation, and chairman and CEO of News International. But as James was climbing to new heights within the empire, the company became engulfed in scandal when investigators and journalists discovered staff at some Murdoch tabloids in Britain had been hacking the phones of public figures and crime victims to get their stories. James was forced to step down as chairman of BSkyB as a result.

After several years hiatus, he rejoined the family business, eventually becoming chairman of Sky and CEO of 21st Century Fox, co-leading the company with older brother Lachlan, who served as executive chairman. The joint leadership arrangement didn't work out, and James left 21st Century Fox in 2019 when the company was sold to Disney, and then left Sky when majority control was acquired by Comcast. Long known as the lone liberal of the Murdoch clan, James' political differences with his family came to a head and he resigned from the board of News Corp in 2020, writing at the time, "My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company's news outlets and certain other strategic decisions."

Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch, poses for pictures on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the British Fashion Awards 2016 in London on December 5, 2016.

Elisabeth Murdoch

Elisabeth Murdoch, 53, is Rupert Murdoch's second child, the first he had with second wife Anna Murdoch. Elisabeth began her training in the family business early with internships and entry level jobs at Murdoch properties. In 1996 she became managing director of Sky Networks at BSkyB. But several years later she was passed over for the role of chief executive at Sky.

Rupert considers Elisabeth to be most like him, but he has been more dismissive of her attempts to take the throne, saying at one point she'd have to figure out how many children she wanted to have before planning further advancement at the company. In 2000 she left the family business and went on to found Shine, one of the UK's biggest independent production companies with shows like "The Biggest Loser," "Master Chef," and "History Cold Case."

When News Corporation acquired Shine in 2011, Elisabeth attempted to take a seat on the News Corporation board, but scrutiny over the phone hacking scandal prevented that from happening. She left Shine after a merger with two other production companies. In 2019 she established a new production company, Sister, and in 2021 Sister funded the opening of a London branch of Ghetto Film School, a non-profit program geared toward introducing young people of color to the entertainment industry.