The Australian media mogul got his start in the industry nearly 70 years ago in 1954, after taking control of what was called News Ltd., which owned the No. 2 newspaper in Adelaide, Australia. His father was a war correspondent and regional newspaper owner.
From there he built his newspaper empire, stretching to racy tabloids in Britain and later the U.S.
In the 1980s, he entered the television business, and bought oil tycoon Marvin Davis’ 50% stake in Twentieth Century Fox in 1985. He became a U.S. citizen that year in order to meet the requirement for owning TV stations in the country.
In 1996 the Fox News Channel was launched, and has since become a top-rated cable network.