Tribune Company

Type	Private
Industry	News, entertainment
Founded	1847
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois
Key people	Sam Zell, Chairman Tony Hunter & Eddy Hartenstein, Co-CEO Publishers Gerry Spector, COO Nils Larsen, Chairman, Tribune Broadcasting Gary Weitman, SVP/Corporate Relations Sean Compton, President Programming & Entertainment, Tribune Broadcasting Jerry Kersting, President Broadcasting
Products	television, newspapers, radio
Revenue	US$3.18 billion (FY 2010)
Employees	14,000
Website	Tribune.com

The Tribune Tower is the headquarters of the company

The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Daily Press and The Morning Call, among others.

Through Tribune Broadcasting, the company operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable, and Chicago's WGN-AM. The group's combined reach is more than 80 percent of U.S. television households. Investment interests include Food Network (31%).

Tribune Interactive, another subsidiary, manages the interactive operations of major daily newspapers such as Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times and their associated websites. Its national network sites owned with partners include CareerBuilder.com, Cars.com, Apartments.com and Topix.net. With more than 50 websites overall, Tribune Interactive ranks among the nation's leading news and information networks. The sites attract more than 20 million unique visitors per month.

Tribune Media Services provides syndicated content to print and electronic media.

Key company investment interests include CareerBuilder (30.8% owned), Classified Ventures (28%) and Topix.com (34%).

Early history[link]

Print pioneer[link]

Tribune was founded in 1847. That year, on June 10, the Chicago Tribune published its first edition in a one-room plant located at LaSalle and Lake streets. The original press run consisted of 400 copies printed on a hand press.

The Tribune erected its first building in 1869 with a four-story structure at Dearborn and Madison Streets. In October 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the building, along with most of the city. The Tribune reappeared two days later with an editorial declaring "Chicago Shall Rise Again." The newspaper's editor and part-owner, Joseph Medill, was elected mayor and led the city's reconstruction. A native Ohioan who first acquired an interest in the Tribune in 1855, Medill gained full control of the newspaper in 1874 and ran it until his death in 1899.

Medill's two grandsons, cousins Robert R. McCormick and Joseph Medill Patterson, assumed leadership of the company in 1911. That same year, the Chicago Tribune's first newsprint mill opened in Thorold, Ontario. The mill marked the beginnings of the Canadian newsprint producer later known as QUNO, in which Tribune held an investment interest until 1995.

The Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate was formed in 1918, leading to Joseph Patterson's establishment of the company's second newspaper, the New York Daily News on June 26, 1919. Tribune's ownership of the New York tabloid was considered "interlocking" due to an agreement between McCormick and Patterson. In the wake of a dispute with some of its labor unions the Daily News was sold to British businessman Robert Maxwell in 1991.

In 1925, the company completed a new headquarters and one of Chicago's first "skyscrapers", the Tribune Tower.

In the 1960s, the company entered the fast-growing Florida market, acquiring the Fort Lauderdale-based Sun-Sentinel in 1963 and the Orlando Sentinel in 1965. The Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia, joined Tribune's newspaper group in 1986.

A merger with the Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Company, completed in June 2000, effectively doubled the size of Tribune by adding more newspapers to the company's holdings. The $8.3 billion transaction was the largest acquisition in newspaper industry history. The Times Mirror merger added seven daily newspapers to the Tribune group, including the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The Baltimore Sun and the Hartford Courant. Tribune was now the only media company with newspapers and television stations in the top three markets. Among other advantages from the merger, including various economies of scale, Tribune newspapers could now effectively compete for national advertising. Tribune Media Net, the national advertising sales organization of Tribune Publishing, was established in 2000 to take advantage of the company's expanded scale and scope. By 2002, revenues had grown to $5 billion.

Tribune also launched daily newspapers targeting urban commuters, including the Chicago Tribune's RedEye edition in 2002, followed by an investment in AM New York one year later. In 2006 Tribune acquired the minority equity interest in AM New York, giving it full ownership in the newspaper. The company sold both Newsday and AM New York to Cablevision in 2008.

Move into broadcasting[link]

The company entered broadcasting in 1924 by purchasing WDAP, one of Chicago's first radio stations. Tribune later changed the station's call letters to WGN, reflecting the Tribune's slogan, "World's Greatest Newspaper." WGN was first to broadcast the World Series, the Indianapolis 500 and the Kentucky Derby, and introduced microphones in the courtroom during the 1925 Scopes "monkey trial" in Tennessee.

Tribune moved the infant television industry in 1948, with the establishments of WGN-TV in Chicago and WPIX in New York City. These stations became the foundation for Tribune Broadcasting, today one of the country's largest independent TV groups. In 1978 WGN-TV became one of the first national "superstations", as its signal was linked via satellite to cable systems across the United States. The present-day cable version of the Chicago station, known as WGN America (formerly Superstation WGN), reaches about 60 million U.S. homes outside Chicago through cable and direct broadcast satellite.

In the early 1980s Tribune Broadcasting expanded its broadcast holdings and moved into television production and syndication through its Tribune Entertainment subsidiary. Programs either produced or distributed by Tribune Entertainment have included U.S. Farm Report, Independent Network News, Soul Train, and Geraldo. Tribune Entertainment was closed in 2007.

In 1993 Chicagoland Television (CLTV), the Chicago area's first 24-hour cable news television channel, was launched by the company. CLTV utilizes the resources of both the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV. Tribune is also a minority (30 percent) owner of the Food Network, along with majority partner Scripps Networks Interactive.

Later expansion[link]

In 1981 Tribune acquired the Chicago Cubs baseball team and its stadium, Wrigley Field, from the Wrigley family for $20.5 million. The WGN stations in Chicago enjoyed a long relationship with the team, and the company's acquisition of the Cubs further cemented the partnership.

In 1983, after 136 years of private ownership, Tribune became a public company with an initial public offering (IPO) of 7.7 million shares valued at $206 million. The opening price per share was $26.75. At the time, it was one of the largest IPOs ever made. The company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol was TRB. Tribune's total operating revenues had grown to $2.2 billion in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

Tribune's broadcasting subsidiary became a minority shareholder in the WB Television Network, a new program service launched by the Warner Bros. Television division of Time Warner. All but a handful of Tribune's television stations became affiliates of the WB Network when it was launched in January 1995. During this period Tribune's TV station holdings grew, nearly tripling in number from eight in 1995 to 23 as of 2012. The reverse occurred in radio, as Tribune sold all of its radio properties with the exception of WGN in Chicago. Tribune's partnership in the WB Network ended in 2006 when it was merged with CBS-owned UPN. The result was the CW Television Network, jointly owned by CBS and Time Warner and affiliated with several Tribune-owned stations; Tribune does not own any portion of the network.

Tribune's television stations and newspapers are complemented by several news and information websites. The sites are operated by Tribune Interactive, established in 1999. The group manages all aspects of the company's TV and newspaper sites, plus special-interest sites like ChicagoSports.com and many sites featuring local dining and entertainment information. Affiliated national-brand classified advertising sites, in which Tribune owns an equity interest, include CareerBuilder, cars.com and apartments.com.

Recent developments[link]

On April 2, 2007, Chicago-based investor Sam Zell announced plans to buy out the media company for $34.00 a share, totalling $8.2 billion.^[1] Zell's intentions were to turn the company private. The deal was approved by 97% of the Company's shareholders on August 21, 2007.^[2] Privatization of the Tribune Company occurred on December 20, 2007 with termination of trading in Tribune stock at the close of the market.^[3]

On December 21, 2007, Tribune and Local TV announced plans to collaborate in the formation of an as yet unnamed "broadcast management company".^[4]

On January 31, 2008, Tribune Company announced it will purchase real estate leased from TMCT, LLC, which includes properties used by the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant. The company received an option to purchase the real estate for $175 million through the 2006 restructuring of TMCT, LLC.

In addition, Tribune announced the sale of Tribune Studios and related real estate in Los Angeles to Hudson Capital, LLC, for $125 million. The parties also agreed to a five-year lease allowing KTLA-TV to continue operating at the location through 2012.^[5]

On February 4, 2008, Tribune Company today named broadcast veteran Ed Wilson as president of Tribune Broadcasting, overseeing the company's 23 television stations, Superstation WGN, Tribune Entertainment, and WGN Radio. His appointment is effective February 11.^[6]

On April 28, 2008, Tribune completed an acquisition of real estate from TMCT Partnership.^[7]

On July 29, 2008, Cablevision completed a purchase of Newsday from Tribune.^[8]

On September 8, 2008, United Airlines lost (and later the same day almost regained) USD 1 billion in market value when an archived Chicago Tribune article from 2002 about United filing for bankruptcy appeared in the "most viewed" category on the website of the Sun-Sentinel. Google News index's next pass found the link as new news. Income Security Advisors found the Google result to be new news, which was passed along to Bloomberg News where it became a headline. (Tribune Company which owns both papers noted that one click on a story in non-peak hours could flag an article as "most viewed".)^[9]

On December 8, 2008, faced with high debts related to the company going private, Tribune filed for bankruptcy.^[10] Company plans call for it to emerge from bankruptcy on May 31, 2010.^[11] It was the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry.^[1]

On October 27, 2009, Thomas S. Ricketts purchased a majority (95 percent) ownership of the Chicago Cubs. The sale also included Wrigley Field and a 25 percent ownership stake of Comcast SportsNet Chicago, as part of a deal designed to help Tribune restructure.^[12]

In October 2010, Randy Michaels, who was made CEO after Zell's purchase of the company, was removed and replaced by an executive council. The New York Times had reported earlier in the month about his "outlandish, often sexual behavior"; that he also exercised in his previous job at Clear Channel Communications.^[13][14]

Assets[link]

Print media[link]

English-language newspapers:

• Burbank Leader, Burbank, California
• Daily Pilot, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, California
• Glendale News-Press, Glendale, California
• Huntington Beach Independent, Huntington Beach, California
• Valley Sun, La Cañada Flintridge, California
• Costline Pilot, Laguna Beach, California
• Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California
• Pasadena Sun, Pasadena, California
• Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut
• South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, Florida
• Chicago Tribune and Redeye, Chicago, Illinois
• Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland
• The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania
• Daily Press, Newport News, Virginia

Spanish-language newspapers:

• Hoy, Los Angeles and Chicago
• El Sentinel del Sur de la Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• El Sentinel, Orlando, Florida

Broadcast media[link]

For a complete list of the company's past and present broadcast holdings, please see Tribune Broadcasting.

Cable television[link]

• Chicagoland Television (regional cable news channel)
• Food Network (30%, with Scripps Networks Interactive)

Digital assets[link]

Note: This list is partial

See also[link]

	Chicago portal
	Companies portal

• List of assets owned by Tribune Company
• List of professional sports team owners
• Lists of corporate assets
• Tribune Interactive

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• McMeekin, Tara (May 2009). "Trib deploys hub to manage content groupwide". Newspapers & Technology: pp. 1, 24. http://www.newsandtech.com/issues/2009/May/05-09_trib-hub.htm. ^{[dead link]}

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tribune Company

• Tribune Company's official website
• Media properties owned by the Tribune Company according to the Center for Public Integrity
• Nieman Journalism Lab. "Tribune Company". Encyclo: an encyclopedia of the future of news. http://www.niemanlab.org/encyclo/tribune-company/. Retrieved 1 April 2012. 

Links to related articles v t e White House James S. Brady Press Briefing Room seating chart row Podium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NBC WSJ AFP For. Pool Newsweek Wash Examiner Talk Radio Fox News CBS Radio USA Today MSNBC Time CCH Dallas Morning News CBS Bloomberg McClatchy Washington Times The Hill Salem Radio Boston Globe / Roll Call A.P. NPR AURN NY Daily News Hearst Media News CBN ABC Wash Post Politico National Journal NY Post CSM BBC / Balt Sun Reuters NY Times Tribune VOA Fox Radio BNA Scripps CNN AP Radio ABC Radio National Journal Chicago Sun-Times Dow Jones Financial Times The seating chart as of August 1, 2010. White House Correspondents' Association v t e Tribune Company Corporate directors Sam Zell (Chairman and Chief Executive) · Betsy Holden · Randy Michaels · Ed Wilson Tribune Publishing Newspapers The Baltimore Sun · Chicago Tribune · Hartford Courant · Los Angeles Times · South Florida Sun-Sentinel · Orlando Sentinel · The Morning Call · Daily Press · The Virginia Gazette · RedEye · Hoy (Chicago and Los Angeles) · El Sentinel del Sur de la Florida Times community papers Daily Pilot · Huntington Beach Independent · Burbank Leader · Glendale News Press Other Chicago · Hartford · Advocate Weekly Newspapers · Metromix (50%) · ChicagoNow Investments Classified Ventures · CareerBuilder · Topix Tribune Broadcasting Television networks Broadcast network Antenna TV Cable networks CLTV · Food Network (30%) · WGN America ABC network affiliate WGNO CW network affiliates KDAF · KIAH · KPLR-TV · KRCW-TV · KTLA · KWGN-TV · WCCT-TV · WDCW · WGN-TV · WNOL-TV · WPIX · WSFL-TV · WTTV Fox network affiliates KCPQ · KSWB-TV · KTXL · WPMT · WTIC-TV · WXIN · WXMI MyNetworkTV affiliates KZJO · WPHL-TV Radio WGN · Chicago Cubs Radio Network Tribune Media Services Comic strips Animal Crackers · Bottom Liners · Bound and Gagged · Brenda Starr, Reporter · Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! · Broom-Hilda · Dick Tracy · Gasoline Alley · Gil Thorp · Jumble · Little Orphan Annie · Loose Parts · Love Is... · The Middletons · The Pink Panther · Pluggers Editorial cartoons Dan Wasserman · Dana Summers · Dick Locher · Don Wright · Drew Sheneman · Jack Ohman · Matt Davies · Paul Conrad · Scott Stantis · Walt Handelsman Humor columnists Andy Rooney · Dave Barry · Diane Farr · Jen Lancaster · Mark Russell · Michael Showalter · Today's Chuckle Political columnists Arianna Huffington · Bill Press · Cal Thomas · Carl Hiaasen · Clarence Page · Garrison Keillor · Henry Kissinger · Ian Bremmer · Jesse Jackson · Jonah Goldberg · Jules Witcover · Leonard Pitts Jr. · Paul Kennedy · Andrés Oppenheimer · Victor Davis Hanson · William Pfaff Other columnists Amy Dickinson · Billy Graham · Goren Bridge · Liz Smith · Mitch Albom · Omarr's Astrological Forecast · Rick Steves · Robert Pagliarini · Wolfgang Puck · Zap2it Annual revenue: $5.73 billion USD (2% FY 2005) · Employees: 21,500 · Website: tribune.com v t e Chicago Cubs Formerly the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Colts and the Chicago Orphans • Based in Chicago, Illinois Franchise History • Seasons • Records • No-hitters • Players • Managers • Owners and executives • Broadcasters • Opening Day starting pitchers • First-round draft picks Ballparks 23rd Street Grounds • Lakefront Park • West Side Park I • South Side Park • West Side Park II • Wrigley Field Spring training: Plant Field • Blair Field • HoHoKam Park Lore Babe Ruth's called shot • The Inning • Gatorade Glove Play • Homer in the Gloamin' • The Sandberg Game • Fall of '69 • Home Run Chase • Brock for Broglio • Merkle's Boner • Worst to First • Monday Saves the Flag • College of Coaches • Ken Hubbs incident • Billy Jurges incident • Game 163 Culture Steve Bartman • Curse of the Billy Goat • Ex-Cubs Factor • Tinker to Evers to Chance • Rookie of the Year • This Old Cub • Ronnie Woo Woo • Grant DePorter • Wrigley Rooftops • Cubby Bear • Wrigleyville • Wayne Messmer • Yosh Kawano • Mike Royko • Holy Cow! • Wrigley Company • Hey Hey Holy Mackerel • Bill Holden • Bleacher Bums • The Heckler • Arne Harris • Voice of Chicago • Billy Sianis • "Go, Cubs, Go" • The Natural • Pat and Ron Show • "All the Way" • Cubs Win Flag • Brant Brown • JDRF • Addison Red Line Station • Sheridan Red Line Station • Taking Care of Business • Billy Goat Tavern • Heel Click • Winter Classic • Clark Street • Addison Street • Radio Network • "Let's Play Two!" • Mr. Cub • A League of Their Own • Take Me Out to the Ball Game • I.O. • The Cubs Fan's Guide To Happiness • Pat Pieper • The Cubby Bear • Great Chicago Fire • Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse • Bohemian National Cemetery Columbarium Rivalries Milwaukee Brewers • St. Louis Cardinals • Chicago White Sox Retired numbers 10 • 14 • 23 • 26 • 31 • 31 • 42 • Hey Hey! Key personnel Owner: Family of Joe Ricketts; operated by Tom Ricketts • President of Baseball Operations: Theo Epstein • General Manager: Jed Hoyer • Manager: Dale Sveum World Series Championships (4) 1882 • 1885 • 1907 • 1908 National League Championships (16) 1876 • 1880 • 1881 • 1882 • 1885 • 1886 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1910 • 1918 • 1929 • 1932 • 1935 • 1938 • 1945 Division Championships Eastern 1984 • 1989 Central 2003 • 2007 • 2008 Wild Card 1998 Minor league affiliates Iowa Cubs (AAA) • Tennessee Smokies (AA) • Daytona Cubs (A) • Peoria Chiefs (A) • Boise Hawks (A) • Arizona League Cubs (Rookie) • DSL Cubs1 (Rookie) • DSL Cubs2 (Rookie) Other assets Comcast SportsNet Chicago • WGN   Seasons (140) 1870s 1870 • 1871 • 1872 • 1873 • 1874 • 1875 • 1876 • 1877 • 1878 • 1879 1880s 1880 • 1881 • 1882 • 1883 • 1884 • 1885 • 1886 • 1887 • 1888 • 1889 1890s 1890 • 1891 • 1892 • 1893 • 1894 • 1895 • 1896 • 1897 • 1898 • 1899 1900s 1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 • 1905 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909 1910s 1910 • 1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 • 1917 • 1918 • 1919 1920s 1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 1930s 1930 • 1931 • 1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 1940s 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 1950s 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 1960s 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 1970s 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 1980s 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 1990s 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 2000s 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 2010s 2010 • 2011 • 2012 v t e Illinois-based corporations Fortune 500 corporations (by size–2010) Archer Daniels Midland Boeing Walgreens State Farm Insurance Cos. Sears Holdings Corporation Kraft Foods Caterpillar Inc. Allstate Abbott Laboratories Deere & Company McDonald's Motorola Exelon United Continental Holdings Illinois Tool Works Sara Lee Corporation Baxter International Navistar International RR Donnelley Discover Financial Aon Corporation Integrys Energy Group OfficeMax W. W. Grainger Fortune Brands Smurfit-Stone Container Telephone and Data Systems Anixter United Stationers Tenneco Northern Trust Fortune 1000 corporations (by size–2010) Companies listed above, plus: Hospira Old Republic International Nalco Holding Company Corn Products International Pactiv Hyatt Hotels Corp. Country Financial General Growth Properties Hewitt Associates Kemper Corporation Nicor CME Group CF Industries Holdings Molex Jones Lang LaSalle Pactiv Brookdale Senior Living Equity Residential Career Education Corporation AptarGroup True Value Gardner Denver Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Other major private and public companies (alphabetically) Ace Hardware ACCO Brands Amsted Industries Baker & McKenzie Blue Cross Blue Shield Association CDW CNA Financial Dot Foods Eby-Brown Electro-Motive Diesel Flex-N-Gate Follett Corporation Grant Thornton LLP Health Care Service Corporation Heico Cos. Hendrickson International Jenner & Block JPMorgan Chase Bank Kirkland & Ellis Koch Foods Marmon Group Mayer Brown Medline Industries OSI Group Reyes Holdings Sauer-Danfoss Schiff Hardin Sidley Austin Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Solo Cup Company Tellabs Tribune Company US Foods Walsh Group Wirtz Corp. v t e Principal owners of the Chicago Cubs franchise William Hulbert Albert Spalding Jim Hart Charles Murphy Charles Phelps Taft Charles Weeghman William Wrigley, Jr. Philip K. Wrigley William Wrigley III Tribune Company Thomas S. Ricketts

Rupert Murdoch
Murdoch at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair party
Born	Keith Rupert Murdoch (1931-03-11) 11 March 1931 (age 81) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	United States
Citizenship	United States (naturalised 1985)
Occupation	Chairman and CEO of News Corporation
Net worth	US$ 8.3 billion (2012)[1]
Religion	Christian
Spouse	Patricia Booker (m. 1956–1967) «start: (1956)–end+1: (1968)»"Marriage: Patricia Booker to Rupert Murdoch" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Rupert_Murdoch) (divorced) Anna Maria Torv (m. 1967–1999) «start: (1967)–end+1: (2000)»"Marriage: Anna Maria Torv to Rupert Murdoch" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Rupert_Murdoch) (divorced) Wendi Deng (m. 1999) «start: (1999)»"Marriage: Wendi Deng to Rupert Murdoch" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Rupert_Murdoch)
Children	Prudence Murdoch (b. 1958)[2] Elisabeth Murdoch (b. 1968)[2] Lachlan Murdoch (b. 1971)[2] James Murdoch (b. 1972)[2] Grace Murdoch (b. 2001)[3] Chloe Murdoch (b. 2003)[2]
Parents	Keith Murdoch (1885–1952) Elisabeth Joy (née Greene, b. 1909)
Relatives	Matthew Freud (son-in-law) Sarah Murdoch (daughter-in-law)
Awards	Companion of the Order of Australia (1984).[4]
Notes a Australian citizenship lost in 1985 (under S17 of Australian Citizenship Act 1948) with acquisition of US nationality

Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG (born 11 March 1931) is an Australian American media mogul. Murdoch became managing director of Australia's News Limited, inherited from his father, in 1952.^[3][5] He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of global media holding company the News Corporation, the world's second-largest media conglomerate.^[6][7][8][9]

In the 1950s and '60s, he acquired various newspapers in Australia and New Zealand, before expanding into the United Kingdom in 1969, taking over the News of the World followed closely by The Sun. He moved to New York in 1974 to expand into the US market and became a naturalised US citizen in 1985.^[5] In 1981, he bought The Times, his first British broadsheet.

In 1986, keen to adopt newer electronic publishing technologies, he consolidated his UK printing operations in Wapping, causing bitter industrial disputes. His News Corporation acquired Twentieth Century Fox (1985), HarperCollins (1989)^[10] and The Wall Street Journal (2007). He formed BSkyB in 1990 and during the 1990s expanded into Asian networks and South American television. By 2000 Murdoch's News Corporation owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries with a net worth of over $5 billion.

In July 2011 Murdoch faced allegations that his companies, including the News of the World, owned by News Corporation, had been regularly hacking the phones of celebrities, royalty and public citizens. He faces police and government investigations into bribery and corruption by the British government and FBI investigations in the US.^[11][12]

Early life[link]

Murdoch was born in Melbourne, the only son of Sir Keith Murdoch (1885–1952) and Elisabeth Greene (born 1909). He has English, Irish and Scottish ancestry. His parents were both born in Melbourne. Keith Murdoch was a renowned war correspondent and later a regional newspaper magnate.^[5] He asked for a rendezvous after seeing her debutante photograph in one of his own newspapers and they married in 1928, when she was aged 19 and he 23 years her senior.^[13] In addition to Rupert, the couple had three daughters: Janet Calvert-Jones, Anne Kantor and Helen Handbury (1929–2004).

Murdoch attended Geelong Grammar School,^[14] where he had his first experience of editing a publication, being co-editor of the school's official journal The Corian and editor of the student journal If Revived.^[15][16] He also took his School's cricket team to the National Junior Finals. He worked part time at the Melbourne Herald and was groomed by his father from an early age to take over the family business.^[3][5] Murdoch read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford University in England, where he supported the Labour Party^[3] and managed Oxford Student Publications Limited, the publishing house of Cherwell Newspaper.^[17] After her husband's death from cancer in 1952, Elisabeth Murdoch went on to invest herself in charity work, as life governor of the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne and establishing the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. At 102 (in 2011) she had 74 descendants.^[13] Murdoch completed an MA before working as a sub-editor with the Daily Express for two years.^[5]

Activities in Australia and New Zealand[link]

Journalist Sir Keith Murdoch (1886–1952), Rupert Murdoch's father.

Following his father's death, when he was 21, Murdoch returned from Oxford to take charge of the family business News Limited, which had been established in 1923. Rupert Murdoch turned its newspaper, Adelaide News, its main asset, into a major success.^[3] He began to direct his attention to acquisition and expansion, buying the troubled Sunday Times in Perth, Western Australia (1956) and over the next few years acquiring suburban and provincial newspapers in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory, including the Sydney afternoon tabloid, The Daily Mirror (1960). The Economist describes Murdoch as "inventing the modern tabloid",^[18] as he developed a pattern for his newspapers, increasing sports and scandal coverage and adopting eye-catching headlines.^[5]

Murdoch's first foray outside Australia involved the purchase of a controlling interest in the New Zealand daily The Dominion. In January 1964, while touring New Zealand with friends in a rented Morris Minor after sailing across the Tasman, Murdoch read of a takeover bid for the Wellington paper by the British-based Canadian newspaper magnate, Lord Thomson of Fleet. On the spur of the moment, he launched a counter-bid. A four-way battle for control ensued in which the 32-year-old Murdoch was ultimately successful.^[19] Later in 1964, Murdoch launched The Australian, Australia's first national daily newspaper, and its first broadsheet, which was based first in Canberra and later in Sydney.^[3][20] In 1972, Murdoch acquired the Sydney morning tabloid The Daily Telegraph from Australian media mogul Sir Frank Packer, who later regretted selling it to him.^[21] In 1984, Murdoch was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for services to publishing.^[22]

In 1999, Murdoch significantly expanded his music holdings in Australia by acquiring the controlling share in a leading Australian independent label, Michael Gudinski's Mushroom Records; he merged that with Festival Records, and the result was Festival Mushroom Records (FMR). Both Festival and FMR were managed by Murdoch's son James Murdoch for several years.^[23]

Political activities in Australia[link]

Murdoch found a political ally in John McEwen, leader of the Australian Country Party (now known as the National Party of Australia), who was governing in coalition with the larger Menzies-Holt Liberal Party. From the very first issue of The Australian Murdoch began taking McEwen's side in every issue that divided the long-serving coalition partners. (The Australian, 15 July 1964, first edition, front page: "Strain in Cabinet, Liberal-CP row flares.") It was an issue that threatened to split the coalition government and open the way for the stronger Australian Labor Party to dominate Australian politics. It was the beginning of a long campaign that served McEwen well.^[24]

After McEwen and Menzies retired, Murdoch threw his growing power behind the Australian Labor Party under the leadership of Gough Whitlam and duly saw it elected^[25] on a social platform that included universal free health care, free education for all Australians to tertiary level, recognition of the People's Republic of China, and public ownership of Australia's oil, gas and mineral resources. Rupert Murdoch's backing of Whitlam turned out to be brief. Murdoch had already started his short-lived National Star^[24] newspaper in America, and was seeking to strengthen his political contacts there.^[26]

Asked about the Australian federal election, 2007 at News Corporation's annual general meeting in New York on 19 October 2007, its chairman Rupert Murdoch said, "I am not commenting on anything to do with Australian politics. I'm sorry. I always get into trouble when I do that." Pressed as to whether he believed Prime Minister John Howard should be re-elected, he said: "I have nothing further to say. I'm sorry. Read our editorials in the papers. It'll be the journalists who decide that – the editors."^[27] In 2009, in response to accusations by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that News Limited was running vendettas against him and his government, Murdoch opined that Rudd was "oversensitive"^[28] Murdoch described Howard's successor, Labor Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, as "...more ambitious to lead the world [in tackling climate change] than to lead Australia..." and criticised Rudd's expansionary fiscal policies in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 as unnecessary.^[29] Although News Limited's interests are extensive, also including the Daily Telegraph, the Courier-Mail and the Adelaide Advertiser, it was suggested by the commentator Mungo MacCallum in The Monthly that "the anti-Rudd push, if coordinated at all, was almost certainly locally driven" as opposed to being directed by Murdoch, who also took a different position from local editors on such matters as climate change and stimulus packages to combat the financial crisis.^[30]

Activities in Britain[link]

Business activities in Britain[link]

Rupert Murdoch – World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2007

In 1968 Murdoch entered the UK newspaper market with his acquisition of the populist News of the World, followed in 1969 with the purchase of the struggling daily broadsheet The Sun from IPC.^[31] Murdoch turned The Sun into a tabloid format and reduced costs by using the same printing press for both newspapers. In 1997 The Sun attracted 10 million daily readers.^[5] In 1981, Murdoch acquired the struggling Times and Sunday Times from Canadian newspaper publisher Lord Thomson of Fleet.^[31] Ownership of The Times came to him through his relationship with Lord Thomson, who had grown tired of losing money on it as a result of much industrial action that stopped publication.^[32] In the light of success and expansion at The Sun the owners believed that Murdoch could turn the papers around. Harold Evans, Editor of the Sunday Times from 1967, was made head of the daily Times, though he stayed only a year amid editorial conflict with Murdoch.^[33][34]

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Murdoch's publications were generally supportive of Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.^[35] At the end of the Thatcher/Major era, Murdoch switched his support to the Labour Party and its leader, Tony Blair. The closeness of his relationship with Blair and their secret meetings to discuss national policies was to become a political issue in Britain.^[36] Though this later started to change, with The Sun publicly renouncing the ruling Labour government and lending its support to David Cameron's Conservative Party in the English editions, which soon after came to form a coalition government. In Scotland, where the Tories had yet to recover from their complete annihilation in 1997, the paper began to endorse the Scottish National Party (though not yet its flagship policy of independence), which soon after came to form the first ever outright majority in the proportionally elected Scottish Parliament. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official spokesman said in November 2009 that Brown and Murdoch "were in regular communication" and that "there is nothing unusual in the prime minister talking to Rupert Murdoch".^[37]

In 1986, Murdoch introduced electronic production processes to his newspapers in Australia, Britain and the United States. The greater degree of automation led to significant reductions in the number of employees involved in the printing process. In England, the move roused the anger of the print unions, resulting in a long and often violent dispute that played out in Wapping, one of London's docklands areas, where Murdoch had installed the very latest electronic newspaper purpose-built publishing facility in an old warehouse.^[38] The bitter dispute at Wapping started with the dismissal of 6,000 employees who had gone on strike and resulted in street battles and demonstrations. Many on the political left in Britain alleged the collusion of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government with Murdoch in the Wapping affair, as a way of damaging the British trade union movement.^[39][40][41] In 1987, the dismissed workers accepted a settlement of £60 million.^[5]

Murdoch's British-based satellite network, Sky Television, incurred massive losses in its early years of operation. As with many of his other business interests, Sky was heavily subsidised by the profits generated by his other holdings, but convinced rival satellite operator British Satellite Broadcasting to accept a merger on his terms in 1990.^[5] They were quick to see the advantages of direct to home (DTH) satellite broadcasting that did not require costly cable networks and the merged company, BSkyB, has dominated the British pay-TV market ever since.^[42] By 1996, BSkyB had more than 3.6 million subscribers, triple the number of cable customers in the UK.^[5] British financier Lord Jacob Rothschild, a close Murdoch friend since the 1960's, served as deputy chairman of Murdoch's BSkyB corporation from 2003–2007, and Murdoch jointly invested with Rothschild in a 5.5 percent stake in Genie Oil and Gas, which did shale gas and oil exploration in Israel.^[43]

In response to print media's decline and the increasing influence of online journalism during the 2000s, Murdoch proclaimed his support of the micropayments model for obtaining revenue from on-line news,^[44] although this has been criticised by some.^[45]

News Corporation has subsidiaries in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands and the Virgin Islands. From 1986, News Corporation's annual tax bill averaged around seven percent of its profits.^[46]

Political activities in Britain[link]

In Britain, in the 1980s, Murdoch formed a close alliance with Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and The Sun credited itself with helping her successor John Major to win an unexpected election victory in the 1992 general election, which had been expected to end in a hung parliament or a narrow win for Neil Kinnock's Labour.^[47] In the general elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005, Murdoch's papers were either neutral or supported Labour under Tony Blair. This has led some critics to argue that Murdoch simply supports the incumbent parties (or those who seem most likely to win an upcoming election) in the hope of influencing government decisions that may affect his businesses.

The Labour Party, from when Tony Blair became leader in 1994, had moved from the Left to a more central position on many economic issues prior to 1997. Murdoch identifies himself as a libertarian, saying "What does libertarian mean? As much individual responsibility as possible, as little government as possible, as few rules as possible. But I'm not saying it should be taken to the absolute limit."^[48]

In a speech delivered in New York, Rupert Murdoch said that the British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the BBC coverage of the Hurricane Katrina disaster as being full of hatred of America.^[49]

In 1998, Rupert Murdoch made an attempt to buy the football club Manchester United F.C.,^[50] with an offer of £625 million, but this failed. It was the largest amount ever offered for a sports club. It was blocked by the United Kingdom's Competition Commission, which stated that the acquisition would have "hurt competition in the broadcast industry and the quality of British football".

On 28 June 2006 the BBC reported that Murdoch and News Corporation were considering backing new Conservative leader David Cameron at the next General Election – still up to four years away.^[51] In a later interview in July 2006, when he was asked what he thought of the Conservative leader, Murdoch replied "Not much".^[52] In a 2009 blog, it was suggested that in the aftermath of the News of the World phone hacking scandal which is still ongoing in 2012 and might yet have Transatlantic implications^[53] Murdoch and News Corporation might have decided to back Cameron.^[54] Despite this, there had already been a convergence of interests between the two men over the muting of Britain's communications regulator Ofcom.^[55]

In 2006, Britain's Independent newspaper reported that Murdoch would offer Tony Blair a senior role in his global media company News Corporation when the prime minister stood down from office.^[56]

He is accused by former Solidarity MSP Tommy Sheridan of having a personal vendetta against him and of conspiring with MI5 to produce a video of him confessing to having affairs – allegations over which Sheridan had previously sued News International and won.^[57] On being arrested for perjury following the case, Sheridan claimed that the charges were "orchestrated and influenced by the powerful reach of the Murdoch empire".^[58]

In August 2008, British Conservative leader and future Prime Minister David Cameron accepted free flights to hold private talks and attend private parties with Murdoch on his yacht, the Rosehearty.^[59] Cameron has declared in the Commons register of interests he accepted a private plane provided by Murdoch's son-in-law, public relations guru Matthew Freud; Cameron has not revealed his talks with Murdoch. The gift of travel in Freud's Gulfstream IV private jet was valued at around £30,000. Other guests attending the "social events" included the then EU trade commissioner Lord Mandelson, the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and co-chairman of NBC Universal Ben Silverman. The Conservatives have not disclosed what was discussed.^[60]

In July 2011 it emerged that Cameron met key executives of Murdoch's News Corporation 26 times during the 14 months that Cameron had served as Prime Minister.^[61] It was also reported that Murdoch had given Cameron a personal guarantee that there would be no risk attached to hiring Andy Coulson, the former editor of News of the World, as the Conservative Party's communication director in 2007.^[62] This was in spite of Coulson having resigned as editor over phone hacking by a reporter. Cameron chose to take Murdoch's advice, despite warnings from Nick Clegg, Lord Ashdown and The Guardian.^[63] Coulson resigned his post in 2011 and was later arrested and questioned on allegations of further criminal activity at The News of the World, specifically the News International phone hacking scandal.

News International phone hacking scandal[link]

In July 2011 Rupert Murdoch along with his son James gave testimony before a British parliamentary committee regarding phone hacking. In the U.K his media empire remains under fire as investigators continue to probe reports of other phone hacking.^[64]

On 14 July, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons served a summons on Murdoch, his son James, and his former CEO Rebekah Brooks to testify before a committee on 19 July.^[65] After an initial refusal, the Murdochs confirmed they would attend after the committee issued them a summons to Parliament.^[66] The day before the committee, the website of the News Corporation publication The Sun was hacked, and a false story was posted on the front page claiming that Murdoch had died.^[67] Murdoch described the day of the committee "the most humble day of my life". He argued that since he ran a global business of 53,000 employees and that the News of the World was "just 1%" of this, he was not ultimately responsible for what went on at the tabloid. He added that he had not considered resigning,^[68] and that he and the other top executives had been completely unaware of the hacking.^[69][70]

On 15 July Rupert Murdoch attended a private meeting in London with the family of Milly Dowler, where he personally apologised for the hacking of their murdered daughter's voicemail by a company he owns.^[71][72] On 16 and 17 July, News International published two full-page apologies in many of Britain's national newspapers. The first apology took the form of a letter, signed by Rupert Murdoch, in which he said sorry for the "serious wrongdoing" that occurred. The second was titled "Putting right what's gone wrong", and gave more detail about the steps News International was taking to address the public's concerns.^[72] In the wake of the allegations Murdoch accepted the resignations of Rebekah Brooks, head of Murdoch's British operations, and Les Hinton, head of Dow Jones who was chairman of Murdoch's British newspaper division when some of the abuses happened. They both deny any knowledge of any wrong-doing under their command.^[73]