The name of Rupert Murdoch has been associated with a whole media empire for several decades, including television networks, television companies, channels, publishers, film studios and newspapers. The success story of this amazing person is unique, although it contains both a rapid climb, and falling to the brink of death.
Children and teenagers
The future media magnate Rupert Murdoch was born on March 11, 1931 on one of the Australian farms and grew up in a large family. His father was a war correspondent in the past, his zeal and love for the profession allowed him to subsequently become the owner of three local newspapers.
Rupert Murdoch in his youth showed a penchant for adventures of various kinds and entrepreneurship. Named in honor of his grandfather, he impressed loved ones with a resemblance to a namesake - he adored dubious adventures and pranks, for which he was repeatedly punished by the strict mother Elizabeth. At a certain point, she took a decisive step in raising her son - forcing him to live in a treehouse. The lack of amenities, the need to adapt to a life deprived of benefits, despite the wealth of the family, tempered Murdoch as a child, and he appreciated this experience, despite the fact that he did not agree with the decision of his mother.
Murdoch's father was very fond of his profession and worked hard to instill such feelings in Rupert. However, the restless nature of the son caused his father doubts, so the future tycoon had to go through schooling and boarding schools with severe discipline. Parents believed that staying among strangers would make Rupert more empathetic and tolerant, but among peers he kept himself separate and restrained, even then having decided to become a publisher. Murdoch believed that rapprochement with someone could adversely affect the future and compromise him.
Studying at Oxford
However, with the arrival of Oxford, the boy's prudence again declined. The main disciplines that he studied at the famous university were politics and economics. In the 50s. the twentieth century, the severity of political sentiment was in the air, and Murdoch’s impressionable and lively mind could not help but catch the popular views at that time on the political and economic structure of the world. The absolute idol of Rupert was Vladimir Lenin, and a fanatical commitment to socialism gave a political touch to his behavior during his studies. Murdoch studied poorly, but, surprisingly to the whole environment, he nevertheless coped with final exams.
The first steps in journalism
Shortly before the final exams, he received news of the death of his father. Earlier, Rupert firmly decided that his future activities would be related to publishing and journalism. The death of Keith Murdoch was the impetus for the earliest possible receipt of journalistic experience. With the help of Lord Beaverbrook, an old friend of his father, Rupert got a job at the Daily Express as an assistant editor.
Homecoming
When he returned to Australia, the prospects did not seem too bright - his father left behind only two seedy newspapers and a distant radio station, which seemed completely insignificant compared to the scale of the corporation he led.
However, shortly after the return of the young Murdoch, the editorial staff of one of the newspapers published in the city of Adelaide became convinced that this young man with inexhaustible energy and thirst for activity would not allow collapse.
Publishing business
Murdoch worked for days, charging others with his energy. Fresh ideas, a creative approach to each article, involvement in the work of all departments did their job - a very quickly fading publication gained its former popularity, which went beyond Adelaide. The competitors, sensing a threat from the twenty-two-year-old entrepreneurial publisher, carefully inserted sticks into the spinning wheel of success of the future tycoon, but in the end they ended up under this wheel themselves.
Since 1956, Murdoch began to take the first steps to expand his publishing business. It all started with the purchase of another dying newspaper in another region of the country - the city of Perth. The remoteness of the target caused considerable disagreement in the already formed control apparatus of Adelaide News, but despite the dissatisfaction of colleagues, Rupert took this task as a challenge and went to pick up the bankrupt publication. In Perth, he became known as an implacable fighter for circulation. For the first time, truly provocative, scandalous formulations appeared in the headlines of the newspaper, thanks to which a steady increase in the popularity of the publication among the population was ensured. This successful experience of buying and developing local newspapers was the impetus for such steps in the future.
A television
In 1957, the first television station was launched in Adelaide. These were only the beginnings of the development of the television industry. in Australia. Business mind Murdoch seized on the idea of developing television in his country, he wanted to become a pioneer in this field. To begin with, Rupert invested in the acquisition of one of the new stations, and then went to the United States, believing that only in this country can you truly learn how to work in the industry that interests him. This was the first visit to America, which had a significant impact on the whole future life of Murdoch and his formation as the largest media tycoon.
It was in the United States that he met his first mentor and mastermind - Leonard Goldenson, who at that time was the director of ABC. A mutually beneficial deal, the result of which was an agreement to broadcast ABC programs in Australia, served as the beginning of their long-term cooperation.
Return to Australia and participate in Black Protection Program
Murdoch returned to Australia, charged and inspired by the experience of a new friend, and a few years later released a new TV magazine with the simultaneous launch of a new channel “9”, the success of which exceeded all the most ambitious expectations. The empire began to grow before our eyes.
However, not only media expansion has become the key to the success and glory of Murdoch. In the late fifties, he became an active participant in the trial of a black man accused of raping and killing a child. During the investigation, a large number of controversial facts were revealed, and Murdoch resolutely sided with the fighters with racism and the shortcomings of the then existing judicial system.
The result of his participation was, if not a victory, then a significant relaxation of punishment for the native - instead of execution he was awarded life imprisonment in custody, and later completely released, innocence, however, never admitting.
The australian
Despite the fact that most of the newspapers owned by Murdoch developed towards provocative content, in the sixties he created Australia's first national newspaper, The Australian, which became an integral daily attribute of most self-respecting Australians. By the end of the seventies of the twentieth century, Murdoch had become Australia's most influential media player.
International expansion
Since the late sixties, Murdoch went beyond the capabilities of his native continent and began the systematic acquisition of British publications. The first purchase was News of the World, which at that time was the most sought-after publication among British readers, in content similar to that used to publish Murdoch in Australia. In fact, its acquisition was a kind of click on the nose of an arrogant friend from Oxford, who also claimed to buy this newspaper. News of the World was followed by The Sun and The Daily Telegraph, which Murdoch redesigned in accordance with his commitment to easy-to-maintain tabloids.
The following years were marked by the purchase of the most famous US publications - The New York Post, New York Magazine. Later, all the assets of the Murdoch Empire were merged into a corporation called News Corporation. Murdoch was the key to managing his empire, becoming CEO and heading the board of directors at the same time.
US Television
In 1985, Murdoch realized another ambitious goal - he entered the US television market, for which he even had to obtain American citizenship. So, in the late eighties, he became the owner of several US television channels of a regional nature and bought the company “Twentieth Century Fox”. Around the same time, Sky Television launched in the UK.
Political influence
Murdoch did not hide the fact that the satisfaction from this active expansion was not in building wealth. The key was the almost complete absence of restrictions on the influence that he could exert on the development of all countries whose media were concentrated in his hands. According to many experts, the heads of other states began to be seriously afraid of Murdoch’s penetration into the national media, because before all eyes he put the rulers he liked through the popular publications he owned. Moreover, in supporting political candidates, political logic has virtually disappeared over time.
In Australia, with his support, the Laborites won, in the UK - the Conservatives, in the USA - the Republicans. A defensive position with respect to entire states is also noticeable. For example, Murdoch has repeatedly defended Israel. For this reason, rumors were circulating for some time that Rupert Murdoch was Jewish, but there was no evidence of this.
Murdoch himself has repeatedly stated that he acts at the call of the heart. However, the popular opinion is that the media tycoon acted for business reasons. Million copies of publications subject to Murdoch really look scary even on a global scale.
Personal life
Excessive industriousness could not but leave an imprint on the personal life of the famous tycoon. Murdoch himself recognizes his fanaticism in relation to work. Rupert, whose biography is replete with not only entrepreneurial successes, married four times, and now is the father of six children. The first wife was a stewardess, whom he met in 1956, and after living more than five years, divorced.
This marriage brought him daughter Prudence. The next lover was the journalist Anna Torv. More than thirty years of marriage, three children, surprisingly harmonious partnerships with his wife, mutual understanding and happiness culminated in the same divorce initiated by Anna. Most of the relatives and friends of the couple suggested that the reasons for the breakup were Rupert's excessive love for work and the bursting patience of his faithful wife. In 1999, Rupert Murdoch married Wendy Deng, a former model from Hong Kong. 
Wendy gave birth to Rupert two daughters. Shortly after their wedding, the public was stirred by the news that billionaire Rupert Murdoch was ill with cancer. However, the forecasts of the doctors were favorable, and the famous tycoon still feels great.
Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch
In 2013, Murdoch and Deng divorced.Already in January 2016, The Times published news about the engagement and the imminent marriage of Murdoch to Jerry Hall - the former wife of Mick Jagger. However, for the former model, the wedding was the first in life, since relations with the musician, despite the birth of four daughters, were not registered. Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch celebrated their wedding in London by inviting only close friends and family. In total, the Murdoch Hall couple had 10 children of different ages.
Despite a very respectable age, Rupert Murdoch, whose fortune is now estimated at 12 billion US dollars, continues to take an active part in the life of his corporation, as well as in solving a huge number of world problems. The path he has traveled, starting with a two-year student with only two newspapers bequeathed by his father, and ending with the current status of one of the richest and most influential people in the world, cannot but admire. Self-confidence, strict adherence to one’s own principles, unbridled dedication to work and adventurism led Murdoch to real success, which still inspires the majority of media businessmen.
