Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp., Fox announced on Thursday.
“For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change. But the time is right for me to take on different roles,” Murdoch said in a statement.
The 92-year-old will become chairman emeritus of the two corporations.
“In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas,” he wrote.
Murdoch’s son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become the chair of News Corp. while continuing on as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation.
“On behalf of the FOX and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement on Thursday.
“We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted,” the statement added.
According to the statement from News Corp., Murdoch worked in media for over seven decades as his company owns several media organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and HarperCollins Publishers.
In recent years, Murdoch has seen criticism for hosts on his networks over pushing conspiracy theories, including airing baseless claims of voter fraud after then-President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Murdoch’s exit comes as Fox News is still the leading network among leaders in right-wing news, but faces competition from other networks such as Newsmax, One America News Network, and The Daily Wire.
In April, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems alleging defamation regarding the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2020 election.
