Murdoch Says Little About Why He Wants To Leave the 'NY Post'

By: Joe Strupp Lachlan Murdoch gave few clues Friday as to why he was leaving his father's media giant, News Corp., where he oversees all of the company's Australian newspapers, U.S.-based television stations and, most notably, the New York Post.

In a statement released from his office, Murdoch hinted that he may simply want to spend more time in Australia, his family's homeland and the place he has often said he considers to be his true roots.

"I have today resigned my executive position at News Corporation. I will remain on the board and I am excited about my continued involvement with the Company in a different role. I look forward to returning home to Australia with my wife, Sarah, and son, Kalan, in the very near future.

Murdoch's resignation is effective Aug. 31.

Thanking his father, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, he added, "I would like especially to thank my father for all he has taught me in business and in life. It is now time for me to apply those lessons to the next phase of my career."

In his own statement, Rupert Murdoch appeared to be surprised by the bombshell decision.

"I am particularly saddened by my son's decision and thank him for his terrific contribution to the company, and also his agreement to stay on the board and advise us in a number of areas. I have respected the professionalism and integrity that he has exhibited throughout his career at News Corporation. His achievements include driving all of his reporting divisions to record profits and the New York Post to its highest-ever circulation. I am grateful that I will continue to have the benefit of Lachlan's counsel and wisdom in his continued role on the Company's board."

But while Lachlan Murdoch's decision seems firm, its causes and effects are unknown. News Corp. has not said who might replace him as Post publisher, if anyone, or what it might mean to the paper's ongoing operation. Editor Col Allen, whom Murdoch hired in 2001 while serving as deputy chief operating officer for News Corp., declined to comment on his boss' decision, saying only, "I think he's done a good job."

Calls to Rupert Murdoch's and Lachlan Murdoch's offices were not immediately returned.

Corporate oversight of the younger Murdoch's other responsibilities also is left in the unknown, although his brother, James, is already rumored to be in line to takeover those areas.

Even before he became publisher of the Post in May 2002, the younger Murdoch was spearheading changes at the paper as a News Corp. deputy chief operating officer. First, he cut the Post's single-copy price to 25 cents from 50 cents in 2000; then, he oversaw the construction of a $250 million production plant in the Bronx that opened in 2001 and made quality color printing possible.

In the newsroom, Murdoch shook things up, replacing popular editor Xana Antunes with veteran Australian newsman Allan. Within two months, Allan fired five top editors and liberal columnist Jack Newfield.

Early on, Murdoch helped created a regular circulation boost that averaged about 10% for each six-month period, as well as a 33% gain in advertising revenue for the first nine months of 2002. That year, Murdoch told E&P he expected the money-losing paper to begin turning a profit by 2004. From January through April of this year, advertisers spent about $39.2 million in the paper, up from $36 million for the same period last year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

But the growth has stalled in recent years. The Post remains a money-losing operation, albeit less so than before Murdoch took over. And circulation gains have slowed.

This past reporting period was the first time the Post took a hit in circulation since 1999, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. For the six-month period ending March 2005, daily circ at the paper was virtually flat, slightly increasing .01% to 678,086 copies. Sunday was much worse, given the Post's recent push to boost the numbers. Sunday copies fell 4% to 427,039.

Lachlan Murdoch, 33, is the third of Rupert Murdoch's five children. Born in London and raised in Manhattan's wealthy neighborhoods after his father bought the Post in 1976 (later selling it in 1988 and taking control again in 1993), he was immersed in newspapers from an early age. "I grew up every morning at the breakfast table with my dad flipping through the New York newspapers," he said during a 2002 interview with E&P. "Back then, papers were everything."

Among Murdoch's most prized possessions, which he often pointed out to visitors, was a photo hanging outside his office that shows him, at age 6, outfitted as a Post street hawker.

Murdoch attended Princeton University, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1994 before returning to his family's homeland to join the News Corp. empire. His first assignment, at age 22, was general manager of Queensland Newspapers, which publishes The Courier-Mail in Brisbane. A year later, he became publisher of The Australian, a national newspaper based in Sydney. By late 1995, he also was deputy CEO of News Ltd., which includes all of News Corp.'s Australian operations.

By 1997, Murdoch became chairman and CEO of News Ltd., adding responsibility for all of News Corp.'s U.S.-based print operations in 1999. Today, in addition to the Post, Lachlan oversees all 114 Australian papers, all 35 local Fox TV stations owned by News Corp. (but neither the Fox TV network nor Fox News Channel), News America Marketing, HarperCollins Publishers, and a satellite TV system in Australia.

"Lachlan has demonstrated great leadership and innovation," his father told E&P in 2002. He also called him "an invaluable partner to me in our business."

Although Murdoch quickly rose up the News Corp. ladder, he first had to overcome two major business debacles.

One failed venture was One.Tel Ltd., a telecommunications company that the younger Murdoch invested in with James Packer, son of another Australian media mogul, Kerry Packer, in 1999. In the end, the project reportedly lost News Corp. more than $500 million.

But One.Tel was not Lachlan Murdoch's first troubled investment. Years earlier, when he was in his early 20s, the company sank just under a half-billion dollars into a startup rugby league that proved contentious, lost money, and blemished his r?sum?.

Murdoch may have decided he did not want to split his time so much between Australia and New York. He said years ago that Post got more of his attention than any of his other business entities, estimating it took about 35% of his time. "I spend a disproportionate amount of time on it, from a revenue point of view," he told E&P in 2002. "But it is very important for our position in New York City."

He also indicated then that his devotion to the daily paper was partly related to his family loyalty. "You can only live the life you know, and that is what I have done. I've run newspapers for 10 years," he said at the time.

--Jennifer Saba contributed to this report.