<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says he is stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp, with his son Lachlan to head both companies.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>In a memo to employees, Murdoch said "the time is right" for him to take on "different roles".</div><div><br></div><div>Murdoch, 92, launched Fox News in 1996. It is now the most watched TV news channel in the US.</div><div><br></div><div>Murdoch said he will transition to the role of Chairman Emeritus of both firms in mid-November.</div><div><br></div><div>It comes months after the mogul ditched a plan to merge Fox and News Corp, which would have reunited two major media assets.</div><div><br></div><div>"Our companies are in robust health, as am I. Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges," he wrote. "We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years - I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them."</div><div><br></div><div>The announcement of Murdoch's transition comes during a turbulent year for Fox, which in April agreed to pay a $787.5m (£634m) settlement after being sued by voting machine company Dominion over its reporting of the 2020 presidential election. The network is still facing a second, similar lawsuit from another voting technology firm, Smartmatic, seeking an even larger sum of $2.7bn.</div><div><br></div><div>On 25 April, the company also announced it would "part ways" with Tucker Carlson, the network's highest rating TV host.</div><div><br></div><div>The Murdoch transition comes a year before the US presidential election. The right-leaning network has significant influence in US politics and is hosting a number of debates between Republicans competing to be the party's White House candidate.</div><div>In his memo to staff, the conservative Murdoch vowed to continue to be involved in the "contest of ideas".</div><div><br></div><div>He also criticised other media outlets as being "in cahoots" with a "rarefied class" of elites who he accused of "peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth".</div><div><br></div><div>In a statement, Lachlan Murdoch - who returned to the family business in 2014 after an abrupt departure nearly a decade earlier - said that his father "will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies".</div><div><br></div><div>The elder Murdoch began his career in his native Australia in the 1950s, eventually buying the News of the World and The Sun newspapers in the UK in 1969.</div><div><br></div><div>He later purchased a number of US publications including the New York Post and Wall Street Journal. Through News Corp, he remains the owner of hundreds of local, national and international media outlets.</div><div><br></div><div>Until today's announcement, Lachlan Murdoch had served as the executive chair of Fox Corporation and Nova Entertainment.</div><div><br></div><div>Fox shares rose almost 2% following the announcement that Murdoch was stepping down.</div><div><br></div><div>Professor Anat Alon-Beck, a corporate law expert, said that ultimately market reaction to Lachlan's promotion will depend on whether Fox has a "solid and smart" plan that ensures "that the company's leadership isn't jeopardised just because the most powerful person CEO leaves the role". - BBC</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>