How Fox News Reacted to Rupert Murdoch Stepping Down

Fox News stars Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino broke the news that Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of Fox Corporation live on air, paying tribute to the media mogul.

"Our boss Rupert Murdoch is transitioning from chair of our parent company, Fox Corporation," Hemmer said Thursday on America's Newsroom. "In a note to employees today, he said he's decided that in November he will move to the role of chairman emeritus at both Fox and at Fox Corp. He says going forward his son Lachlan will be the sole chair of both companies.

"In his note Rupert Murdoch says for his entire professional life he's been engaged daily with news and ideas and that will not change and he says he will still be an active member of the Fox community reaching out with thoughts and ideas and advice as he does every day."

Perino gave her own accolade to Murdoch, saying: "Without him we would not be here and we thank him for that and the point about his being in robust health and robust with ideas, we can attest to that."

In the letter to employees, Murdoch portrayed himself as an outsider who had been battling with an elitist establishment.

"Our companies are in robust health, as am I," he wrote. "Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years—I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them. But the battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense.

"My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth."

In a statement Lachlan paid tribute to his father, and vowed to continue his work.

"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," he said.

"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."

Over a 70-year career, Murdoch built up one of the most expansive media empires in the world. In addition to the Fox network, his companies have ownership of a range of English-language publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post in the United States, The Times of London and The Sun in the U.K. and The Australian in his native Australia.

However, he also bequeathed a number of challenges to his son, including a $2.7 billion lawsuit from technology firm Smartmatic USA in response to Fox News' peddling of discredited rigging claims after the 2020 presidential election.

In April, the network reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems after some of its presenters and guests falsely claimed that voting machines made by the company were involved in a plot to steal the election from Trump.