Rupert Murdoch: The Reader

Variety: "Rupert Murdoch's counterintuitive quest to invest in print media helped drive away longtime lieutenant Peter Chernin. And now that Chernin can't intercede, does Murdoch want to follow News Corp.'s $5 billion buyout of Dow Jones by gobbling up the struggling New York Times Co.? The answer appears to be yes, as impossible as present economic conditions make it for most deals of any kind to get done. What's more, incredulous News Corp. insiders say Murdoch's love of print media is so fervent that he's also been talking about a play for the Los Angeles Times, which could make easier prey for several reasons..."

Disgraced Rupert biographer Michael Wolff "Rupert Makes His Crazy Last Stand": "Well, Rupert has guts. With the share price of News Corp. at its lowest level in years, Rupert Murdoch has allowed Peter Chernin, the company’s No. 2, the manager of its entertainment divisions, which are the company’s biggest revenue streams, and a Wall Street favorite, to walk away.I wrote the other day that Chernin would probably stay on, that Murdoch, cowed like everyone else by the financial crisis and an unforgiving market, would give his most important executive what he wanted. I was wrong, as so many people have been, for doubting the old man.The contract issue was straightforward: Chernin wanted Murdoch’s word that if Murdoch departed (carried out or otherwise), Chernin would get his job. That’s the deal they struck four years ago when Chernin’s contract was renewed.But now Murdoch, at 78, wants to know that if he goes, one of his children—likely his son James—will take over.So it’s an actuarial issue."

Wolff's Rupert book was full of inaccurate shit he threw against the wall to see if it would stick. After the tome came out, critics ripped Wolff a new asshole. Turns out Wolff ain't exactly the Oracle at Delphi...

Here's my take on Rupert if anyone gives a rat's ass: The media mogul could rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic and it would miraculously escape the iceberg...