Murdoch faces toughest scrutiny of career before British MPs
The media mogul has been forced to shelve his attempt to take full control of satellite broadcasting company BSkyB, while some of his closest and most trusted News Corporation aides have fallen on their swords amid the growing furore.
Murdoch, 80, will come under some of the fiercest public scrutiny in his long and successful career, when he appears with his son, James, in front of MPs in parliament today.
But what is known about the businessman who has built formidable media empires on both sides of the Atlantic?
Born in Australia in 1931, Murdoch has been submerged in the world of newspapers all his life.
His father Keith was a regional media magnate who owned an Australian newspaper group consisting of The Adelaide News and its sister, The Sunday Mail.
Keith guided his son through his early career and after moving to Britain and graduating from Oxford University, he had a brief spell working as a sub-editor at the Daily Express.
At the age of 22 he returned to Australia and took over his father’s loss-making business following his death. After turning the regional paper around, the young businessman embarked on an acquisition trail across the country before setting up its first national newspaper, the Australian.
He then made for Britain, purchasing The News of the World and The Sun in the late 1960s.
The Times and Sunday Times soon joined his growing News International stable before he moved across the Atlantic in the 70s, snapping up the New York Post and New York magazine.
In an effort to cut costs at his British operations in the mid-80s, Murdoch moved his British newspapers away from Fleet Street to Wapping in London’s East End.
By that stage, he was already recognised as a ruthless and divisive figure — often cast as the villain of the newspaper trade.
The move, which triggered a lengthy battle with the unions and a bitter, year-long struggle with staff, culminated in the loss of 5,000 jobs.
But for Murdoch, it was onward and forward.
The spotlight fell on broadcasting and found him moving to New York in 1985 to become an American citizen in order to fall in with US laws on foreign ownership of TV stations.
Back in Britain, he established Sky Television which soon swallowed up rival BSB.
Murdoch’s influence in the broadcasting world gathered pace with the acquisition of the television rights to Premier League football.
Meanwhile, his position on the world stage was clearly cemented.
The man who had for years mingled with the upper echelons of government, had become an apparently indomitable force, leaving rivals trailing in his wake.
His latest venture saw the arrival of a swathe of popular programmes on British television, with series such as The Simpsons becoming immediate hits.
But the move was tinged with familiar controversy.
The man blamed for bringing newspapers “downmarket” was hit once more with accusations of dumbing down as programmes such as the Jerry Springer Show were imported from America. Much of that aired on Sky channels was made by his US network Fox.
Dismissing suggestions he had too much control over the sector, the media tycoon pressed on.
In 2007, his burgeoning News Corporation purchased Dow Jones, publishers of The Wall Street Journal, for an estimated $5.6 billion.
By this point, the company already owned some 100 newspapers worldwide, as well as the television stations and film studios.
But this year, Murdoch’s corporate interests took a turn for the worse.
Following the phone-hacking scandal which engulfed the News of the World, he faced mounting anger on both sides of the Atlantic, high-profile resignations and the collapse of his bid for BSkyB.
The thrice-married media baron, who has six children, is now to face members of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee tomorrow.
It will be the first time he has publicly answered questions from British parliamentarians.
But he had vowed News Corp will recover from the fallout.
“I’m a catalyst for change. You can’t be an outsider and be successful over 30 years without leaving a certain amount of scar tissue around the place,” he was once reported to have said.
On this occasion, the full extent of the scarring — and its effect on his empire — remains to be seen.
