We’ve seen this movie before. It was the disastrous box office flop featuring young Warwick Fairfax, 30 years ago in August 1987 when he launched a takeover of Fairfax.
It ended badly. Very badly. It’s a second generation thing. It’s a drama about young guns who have never been in the trenches. I get the feeling the same thing is going to happen with Fox News. Say or think what you like about Rupert, he built the business from the ground up, printers ink and an understanding of media courses through his veins.
Rupert Murdoch spent decades plotting and re-plotting which of his children would take over his empire. In 1997, Lachlan became the crown prince. When Lachlan quit in 2005 after sparring with Mr. Ailes, James ascended. But James was seen as badly mishandling the phone-hacking scandal at family-owned tabloids in Britain. For a time there was speculation that Rupert’s daughter Elisabeth, who founded the Shine reality TV juggernaut, had a shot.The brothers eventually rose back to the top. Yet they have not entirely convinced Wall Street analysts that their pairing is workable in the long term. Some people do not see James and Lachlan as equals.