Rupert Murdoch didn't just build a company. He built a machine that reshaped how we see the world, and honestly, he started it all with a single, struggling afternoon paper in Adelaide. Most people think of Fox News or the Wall Street Journal when they hear the name, but the real story of rupert murdoch organizations founded is a wild, seventy-year chess game across four continents.
It's 1952. A 21-year-old Murdoch inherits News Limited after his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, passes away. This wasn't some massive windfall. It was a debt-heavy regional publisher. But Murdoch had this weird, aggressive energy. He didn't just want to survive; he wanted to dominate.
By the time we hit 2026, that tiny Australian seed has branched into two massive, separate global entities: News Corp and Fox Corporation.
The Early Years: From News Limited to The Australian
In the 1950s and 60s, Murdoch was basically the "bad boy" of Australian print. He took The News in Adelaide and turned it into a tabloid firebrand. Crime, sex, scandals—the formula worked. He used the cash to buy up suburban papers and then, in 1964, he did something nobody thought would work: he founded The Australian.
It was the country's first national daily.
People laughed. They said Australia was too fragmented for a national paper. They were wrong. The Australian gave him the intellectual respectability he needed to start eyeing the global stage.
Moving Into the UK: The Sun and The Times
If Australia was the training ground, the UK was where the Murdoch "brand" became a global phenomenon. In 1969, he snatched up News of the World and then The Sun.
The Sun is the perfect example of his strategy. He took a failing, serious broadsheet and turned it into a red-top tabloid with the infamous "Page 3" girls and screaming headlines. It became the best-selling paper in the UK.
But he wasn't just a tabloid king. In 1981, he bought The Times and The Sunday Times. This was a massive deal. It proved he could handle the "Establishment" papers just as well as the scandals. He fought the print unions at Wapping in 1986—a brutal, year-long standoff that basically broke the back of traditional British newspaper production. It was cold. It was efficient. It changed the industry forever.
The American Takeover: Fox Broadcasting and News Corp
You've probably heard that Murdoch had to become a US citizen to own TV stations. That's true. In 1985, he became a naturalized American to satisfy the FCC so he could buy Metromedia’s stations.
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That was the birth of the Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986.
Before Fox, there were only three major networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. People said a fourth network was impossible. Murdoch disagreed. He launched with The Simpsons and Married... with Children. He went after the "underserved" audiences—young people and Black families—and it blew up.
- 1979: He officially founded News Corporation (News Corp) as a holding company for all his global interests.
- 1985: He bought 20th Century Fox (the film studio).
- 1996: He launched Fox News Channel.
Fox News is probably the most controversial piece of the rupert murdoch organizations founded puzzle. Led by Roger Ailes, it didn't try to be CNN. It went for a specific, conservative-leaning audience and, by 2002, it was the most-watched news channel in America. It still is.
The Great Divorce: News Corp and 21st Century Fox
By 2013, the empire was so big it was getting clunky. Plus, the phone-hacking scandal in the UK (which killed off News of the World) had left a bad taste in investors' mouths.
So, he split the baby.
The "old" News Corporation was divided into two new companies. The first, called News Corp, took the newspapers (The WSJ, The Times, The Post) and the book publisher HarperCollins. The second, 21st Century Fox, took the "sexy" assets: the movie studio and the cable networks.
But then, the biggest twist happened in 2019. Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Fox to Disney for a staggering $71.3 billion.
What was left? A lean, mean entity called Fox Corporation.
Where the Empire Stands in 2026
Today, the landscape of rupert murdoch organizations founded is overseen by his son, Lachlan Murdoch. Rupert stepped back to "Chairman Emeritus" in late 2023, but his fingerprints are everywhere.
News Corp is actually doing surprisingly well in the AI era. In late 2025 and early 2026, CEO Robert Thomson has been very vocal about making tech companies pay for the content they use to train AI. They’ve signed massive deals that are keeping the "old media" side of the business very much alive.
Fox Corporation, meanwhile, is doubling down on live events. They just launched a new streaming service called Fox One in 2025 to catch the cord-cutters. They also own Tubi, which has turned into a massive cash cow.
- News Corp Assets: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, Dow Jones, The Times, HarperCollins, REA Group (real estate).
- Fox Corp Assets: Fox News, Fox Sports, the Fox broadcast network, Tubi, and 29 TV stations.
It’s a different world than the one Murdoch started in back in Adelaide. He didn't just found organizations; he founded a new way for media to interact with power. Whether you love him or hate him, you can't argue with the footprint.
If you want to understand how media power works today, start by tracking the revenue streams of these two companies. Look at how they’re pivoting to "information services" rather than just "news." The shift from print to digital data (like the Risk & Compliance division at Dow Jones) is where the real growth is happening right now. Keep an eye on the legal battles over AI training—that’s the next big frontier for the Murdoch legacy.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Research the Dual-Class Share Structure: If you want to know how the Murdochs keep control with a minority stake, look into "Class B" voting shares.
- Follow the AI Licensing Deals: Watch News Corp’s quarterly filings to see how much revenue is coming from tech partnerships versus traditional advertising.
- Monitor the Succession: While Lachlan is in charge, the legal battles over the family trust will determine the future of these organizations for the next thirty years.