Keith Rupert Murdoch

by: Frederike Fürst


 

Dominating, manipulating, never sentimental about business, keeps you on your toes, right-wing, a gambler, a catalyst for change, a dictator, a tyrant, and the greatest dealmaker of our time. These are all descriptions for the successful entrepreneur I have selected for discussion: Rupert Murdoch.

Born on 11th March 1931 in Melbourne, Australia, Rupert Murdoch was influenced by his parents, the Presbyterian Church, the Geelong Grammar School and the Flemington Race Course. Rupert Murdoch is a person with a love for business, in particular of the newspaper business, a passion he inherited from is father, Sir Keith Murdoch. His father’s family were enthusiastic members of the Free Church of Scotland. Rupert Murdoch’s mother gave him his love of risk-taking and a fiery determination. The Flemington Race Course was the first place where he started to gamble. “He contains within his character both an extraordinary gambling instinct and a certain dour Puritanism,” as William Shawcross (1992) describes him. (cited in Crainer 2002 p.4)

Rupert Murdoch studied economics at Oxford University’s Worcester College. After he graduated in 1952 he worked as sub-editor at Lord Beaverbrook’s Daily Express. The same year he inherited the Adelaide News from his father. What Murdoch inherited was no empire; it was a small regional newspaper, but he already had the energy and the will to conquer the mass market. He was very young when he was thrown in to the business, he had to make his own mistakes as well as deal with management all by himself. Early responsibility, the opportunity to learn and to make mistakes is, perhaps, one of the secrets to his success (Crainer 2002 p.6).

Rupert Murdoch founded the first Australian national newspaper The Australian in 1964. This placed him right at the centre of power; he soon became a national figure. Following this, in the United Kingdom he bought News of the World, The Sun, The Times and in the United States of America he purchased New York Post. During the 1980’s Rupert Murdoch created his empire of mass media on the international market. To be able to expand his company even further he became an American citizen in 1985. His company, News Corporations, owns business in technology, entertainment, publishing and the newspaper field. Rupert Murdoch is the Chairman and CEO of his company and has no intention of stepping aside. He is likely to be the most famous businessman in the world; “the global village’s de facto communications minister” (Landler 1993 cited in Crainer p.1). On one hand people describe him as media’s demon king; a dangerous person; greedy, money-grabbing, power-seeking, a status-climbing cad; a tycoon who is a danger to our democracy; one of the most powerful men on earth; but others are able to see his qualities as a human being.

So what is it that makes him such a successful businessman? What is his management style and what are his leadership characteristics?
I will now attempt to analyse Rupert Murdoch’s management style and leadership characteristics. Rupert Murdoch moves with the times, he is always thinking of the future, never of the past. His philosophy is to think of tomorrow today, otherwise he would not make it in the business world (Crainer 2002 p.101). He is constantly updating and developing his network of contacts. The cornerstone of good career management is networking, which is a daily commitment. Rupert Murdoch is well known for his style in using people to build his empire. However, he does not pay much attention to people, and those who are not doing their job do not belong there and simply have to go. His managers have to be prepared to receive a call in the middle of the night and inform him about their particular company. On the other hand Murdoch recruits strong people; mirrors of his own image. Kelvin MacKenzie and Andrew Neil are perfect examples of how some of his most successful executives have turned out to be larger than life personalities.

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