Washington - Rupert Murdoch, who is to step down as chief executive of 21st Century Fox, the media and entertainment conglomerate, still sits at the top of a massive empire.
Murdoch, 84, is listed by Forbes magazine as number 77 in terms of global fortunes, with a net worth of $13.5 billion.
Through 21st Century Fox and News Corp -- two firms created when he split his empire in 2013 -- he controls more than 100 newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, a vast cable network, broadcast and satellite television, a movie studio and a book publisher.
The split aimed to "unlock" value in each group and separate the fast-growing media and entertainment assets from slow-growing newspaper operations. But Murdoch and his family retained control of both groups.
For the latest full fiscal years ending in mid-2014, Fox reported a profit of $4.5 billion of $31.9 billion in revenues, while News Corp, which retained the publishing operations, earned $237 million on $8.57 billion in revenue.
An Australian who became a US citizen in 1985 to expand his media activities in the United States, Murdoch started in the newspaper business in the early 1950s after inheriting The Adelaide News from his father.
By the 1960s, the hard-charging Oxford-educated businessman was taking on the British press.
His conquests in Britain include mass market tabloid The Sun, establishment broadsheet The Times, and investigative trailblazer The Sunday Times.
He also owns The Australian and a dozen other papers in Murdoch's native Australia, and the US tabloid New York Post.
In his biggest coup, Rupert Murdoch in 2007 won control of Dow Jones & Co. and its prize asset, The Wall Street Journal, in a $5.6 billion deal that redrew the US media landscape.
While newspapers are Murdoch's passion, he has branched out over the years into television and movies, which form the core of 21st Century Fox.
Included in that group is the iconic Hollywood film studio 20th Century Fox, known for global blockbusters including the "Star Wars" series, "Ice Age" and "Avatar."
The 24-hour Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network are also part of the group, while in Asia it controls the STAR network, and in Europe it has stakes in "Sky" branded satellite networks serving Britain, Germany and Italy.
The National Geographic Channel belongs to the Fox Entertainment Group as well, as do many television stations and broadcasting networks.
News Corp. owns the book publisher HarperCollins and a raft of educational, marketing, Internet and real-estate activities.
The News UK unit in Britain closed its News of the World tabloid in 2011 after a phone-hacking scandal which has had widespread repercussions.
News Corp. controls Wall Street Journal parent company Dow Jones as well as the "social news" platform Storyful acquired in 2013.
AFP
