The only biography of Lachlan Murdoch 

As heir apparent to the first global media dynasty, Lachlan Murdoch has been waiting to run his father Rupert’s empire all his life. Over an apprenticeship almost three decades long, Lachlan has endured a series of embarrassing public setbacks, from the collapse of One.Tel to the bankruptcy of Channel Ten. He has also pulled off spectacular wins, from a pioneering investment in online real estate that now props up his family’s newspaper operations to the ousting of Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes.

These wins and losses have occurred amid the Murdoch family’s turbulent succession wars. The notoriously private Lachlan has emerged the victor, overcoming challenges from his older sister, Shine guru Elisabeth, and younger brother James, who resigned from the News Corp board in 2020. He is stepping up as the Murdoch empire faces stiff headwinds from the rise of digital media. With ever-controversial Fox News navigating pandemic and infodemic, culture wars and climate change, race politics and democratic failure in the post-Trump era, does Lachlan have what it takes to chart a future for this century-old company?

Despite a life in the spotlight, Lachlan’s personality, politics and business acumen remain enigmatic. Is he the ultra-conservative ideologue media reports maintain, or a free-thinking libertarian, as some friends suggest? In the first biography of the man helming the world’s most influential media business, acclaimed journalist Paddy Manning asks: can the dutiful son can hang onto the empire, or will the third generation of Murdoch moguls prove the last?
 
‘Manning is a fine biographer, who combines deep research with pacy writing. This will be an essential read about a key figure for Australia’s – and the world’s – media.’ —Chris Feik, Publisher, Black Inc.

Paddy Manning is the author of several award-winning books, including biographies of Malcolm Turnbull and Nathan Tinkler. During almost twenty years in journalism he has worked for Crikey, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and The Australian, and has won several awards for journalistic excellence. His most recent book, Body Count, won the 2021 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Nonfiction.