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

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.