Murdoch’s Change of Heart

[Commentary] News Corporation’s board voted to quarantine the newspapers that Rupert Murdoch has so lovingly nurtured, separating them into a new company. Cleaving the giant media conglomerate in two will free the lucrative entertainment division to find a share price more befitting its stellar run.

Murdoch had long resisted such a move, so it’s fair to wonder why one of the most stubborn operators on the planet had such a significant change of heart. The specter of Murdoch being steered to a new place by those around him is not something we have seen in his long reign at News Corporation. Murdoch may have taken the leap, but he was pushed by a decline in the fortunes of print that was more rapid than anyone had anticipated. He was worn down by his most senior executives, a board that was suddenly listening to them as well as him, and his own instinct for self-preservation.