What is Lachlan Murdoch’s Net Worth?
Lachlan Murdoch is an Australian British American businessman and mass media heir who has a net worth of $2.7 billion. The eldest son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch serves as the co-chairman of his father’s News Corp and as the executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation. Murdoch is also the founder of the investment company Illyria Pty, through which he owns NOVA Entertainment.
Early Life and Education
Lachlan Murdoch was born on September 8, 1971 in London, England as the eldest son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his ex-wife Anna Maria. He was raised in New York City, where his father owned the New York Post. Murdoch was educated as a youth at the Aspen Country Day School in Colorado, Trinity School in New York City, and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. For his higher education, he went to Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1994 with his bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
News Corp
In 1989, Murdoch was brought by his father to Australia to train for three months at the Daily Mirror. Later, in the early 1990s, he became general manager of Queensland Newspapers, and then publisher of the Australian. In 1995, Murdoch was appointed deputy CEO of News Limited, and in 1996 was made executive director of News Corp. From 1999 to 2000, he served as senior executive vice president of News Corp, and in 2000 became the deputy COO. Murdoch went on to lead News Corp’s massive investment in the startup telecommunications company One.Tel, which ended up being a failure. He later led a major investment in the REA Group, which eventually became Australia’s market leader in online real estate advertising. Among his other activities at News Corp, Murdoch served on the board of Foxtel and was the chairman of Fox television stations.
In the summer of 2005, Murdoch abruptly resigned from News Corp without explanation, confounding his father while dashing his father’s hopes of succession. Taking over News Corp’s group of television stations was Roger Ailes, the chairman of the Fox News Channel. Murdoch returned to News Corp in early 2014 and became non-executive co-chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox. The next year, he became executive chairman of 21st Century Fox. After that company was acquired by Disney in 2019, Murdoch became the chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation.
Private Investments
After leaving News Corp on a two-year non-compete agreement, Murdoch founded the private investment company Illyria Pty. Through the company, he developed an eclectic investment portfolio including the Indian Premier League cricket team Rajasthan Royals, the digital media company Destra, and the online DVD rental company Quickflix. In late 2009, Murdoch acquired 50% of NOVA Entertainment and became the company’s chairman; a few years later, he acquired the remainder of the company.
Lawsuits
Along with his father, Murdoch was involved in billion-dollar lawsuits filed by the voting machine makers Dominion and Smartmatic. Those companies sued the Fox News Network in 2021 for knowingly and maliciously spreading the false narrative that they had committed election fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Dominion alleged that, under the direction of Lachlan Murdoch, Fox News connected the company to unsubstantiated claims of fraud and deliberately created a platform for the propagation of defamatory and false statements related to its machines. In the spring of 2023, Fox News settled the case by paying Dominion $787.5 million. The Smartmatic lawsuit, meanwhile, remains pending as of this writing.
Personal Life
In 1999, Murdoch married British-Australian model and actress Sarah O’Hare. Together, they have two sons named Kalan and Aidan, as well as a daughter named Aerin.
Real Estate
Previously, Murdoch and his wife owned a house in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney known as “Berthong.” It was sold to actor Russell Crowe in 2003. Six years later, Murdoch purchased a 44,100-square-foot mansion in Bellevue Hill for $23 million, and two years after that purchased an adjoining 11,290-square-foot property. In 2017, he and his wife bought an equestrian property in Aspen, Colorado for $29 million; it includes a 13,500-square-foot home with six bedrooms.
In 2019 Lachlan made headlines when he purchased a 10-acre estate in Bel-Air for $150 million. The home, which is known as “Chartwell”, was used in the opening title sequence for the 1960s TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies”. It was the most-expensive home purchased in California history at the time it was bought.
Lachlan lost the California most-expensive home title a few months later when Jeff Bezos paid $300 million for a nearby estate. Though, it should be noted that Bezos’ purchase included a 1.3-acre vacant lot that was Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s former home until they both passed away.
In August 2020 it was revealed that Lachlan had bought one of his next-door properties for $14 million. The seller was former supermodel Cheryl Tiegs.
