Neil Cavuto reported some breaking news about his employer today on his afternoon Fox News show: News Corp executive chairman and Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn his proposal for a merger between Fox and News Corp. The announcement comes slightly more than three months after News Corp property The Wall Street Journal reported that Murdoch had “proposed a recombination” of the family’s two media conglomerates.
Cavuto reported that Fox Corporation executive chairman/CEO and News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch sent a letter to the News Corp board withdrawing the plan, saying that he and his father came to the conclusion that “a combination is not optimal for the shareholders of Fox and News Corporation at this time. As a result of this decision, our company’s board of directors has dissolved the special committee …” Cavuto added that News Corp is “largely in print” while Fox Corporation is “largely in broadcasting,” and that they will “remain separate as they are.”
Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto announces on air that the Murdochs are “no longer exploring a merger” of Fox Corp and News Corp, then reads off a statement from Lachlan Murdoch. pic.twitter.com/HRnh1JYZgl
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Murdoch separated Fox and News Corp in 2013 when he spun off News Corp assets, which include Dow Jones & Company — which publishes the Wall Street Journal — the New York Post, News UK, News Corp Australia, and HarperCollins book publishing. Murdoch sold the majority of his Fox assets to Disney in the 2019 mega-merger, holding on to Fox Broadcasting and Fox News Media, which now comprise Fox Corporation.