News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch no longer plans to buy the rest of satellite broadcaster BSkyB and is setting his sights on investing in the United States rather than Britain.
In an interview with his company’s FOX Business Network, the octogenarian media mogul spoke about the BSkyB stake and said Britain had lost its appeal for him and he was now keener to invest in a US economy on steadier footing. A phone-hacking scandal at its British tabloids engulfed News Corp last year, forcing it to eventually withdraw a $12 billion bid to buy the rest of the highly profitable satellite broadcaster that it did not already own.
“I think we have moved on in our own thinking from that,” Murdoch said, shortly after an announcement that his media empire will be split into two companies focusing on print publishing and broadcasting.
“There were billions and billions of dollars and if Britain didn’t want them, we have good places to put them here. I am much more bullish on America than I am about England.”
The scandal tainted News Corp’s British newspapers, which ranged from The Sun to the now-defunct News of the World.
But Murdoch said his perspective had nothing to do with the scandal or its fallout. “No, not at all. Just the English,” he said, rousing laughter in the studio. Murdoch said his confidence in the United States has a lot to do with its leadership.
“Of course it has a lot to do with who is in the White House,” he said. “We will see if President Obama gets re-elected — if he will turn left or be more pragmatic and come towards the center.”
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Murdoch also said he believes Europe is going to have a long “semi-recession, if not a real recession,” but he hopes that it doesn’t affect the United States with its “vast expansions of government expenditure.”
Murdoch’s decision sparked speculation he was setting the stage for the return of his eldest son Lachlan as an executive at the company.
Analysts said that the separate publishing company, with some assets in Australia, lends credence to speculation over Lachlan Murdoch’s return as an executive, given that it is widely known that he prefers Australia to the United States.
Should the break-up of the company be completed without the elder Murdoch or Lachlan in the chief executive role at the newspaper operation, it would mark the first time in News Corp’s history that someone other than a Murdoch family member was in charge of that business.
But even if Lachlan did return or if someone else took the CEO role, Murdoch, who loves the newspaper business, has already said he would be an "active chairman" of the publishing unit.
"With Rupert Murdoch you can have the title on your business card, but you know who’s really in charge," said Ken Doctor, a media analyst at Outsell. "He doesn’t want to run it he just wants to tell them what to do."
In an interview on Thursday with Reuters, Murdoch, who will serve as chairman of both companies, said he would be pleased to have Lachlan back.
Lachlan Murdoch, who was deputy chief operating officer at News Corp, left the company in 2005 after clashes with senior executives. He has remained on the board but has been reluctant to return to the company’s headquarters in New York.
"He’s got his hands full with his own businesses at the moment, but as a father I hope he’ll return. He spent his life at my knees as we built this company so we shall see," Murdoch told Reuters.
However, in an interview on News Corp’s Fox Business Network on Thursday, Murdoch moved to dismiss some of the speculation, saying it was "highly unlikely" Lachlan would return to the company as a publishing executive.
Another likely contender to run the new publishing company is News Corp executive Joel Klein, a former New York City schools chancellor.