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Rupert Murdoch and the News Corp board have postponed their visit to Australia this month due to scheduling conflicts, moving the media mogul’s first return to his home country since 2018 to later in the year.
The media conglomerate’s eight board members were expected to attend celebrations for the 60th anniversary of The Australian, the national broadsheet Murdoch launched in 1964.
But an update shared with invitees of the newspaper’s lunch event scheduled for February 20 said the celebrations would now have to take place later in the year. The new date is understood to be likely in July to coincide with the first printed edition of the masthead in the same month in 1964.
Rupert Murdoch, who has handed over the News Corp reins to son Lachlan, hasn’t been here in more than five years.Credit: Rob Latour/Shutterstock
“Regrettably, it has become necessary to reschedule the luncheon on February 20, 2024. We look forward to celebrating The Australian’s 60th with you later in the year,” the note read.
After News Corp’s relocation to the US 20 years ago, annual visits to Australia by Murdoch and his top brass had been common, with the hands-on-media billionaire using it as an opportunity to comb over physical copies of the company’s mastheads, visit politicians and check in with senior editors.
While the pandemic halted international travel for several years, the 92-year-old’s health has also been a factor in his lengthy absence. A recent book written by American author Michael Wolff reported that Murdoch could not make it to his sister Anne Kantor’s funeral in 2022 in Australia due to health issues.
This month’s planned visit was expected to include the media company’s entire board of directors including Murdoch senior and his eldest son Lachlan, who became the sole chair of both News Corp and Fox Corp in November.
Also on the list were lead director and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s former mentor Masroor Siddiqui, former US senator Kelly Ayotte, former Spanish president Jose Maria Aznar, Natalie Bancroft of the Bancroft family (the previous owners of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal), Credit Suisse Brasil chair Ana Paula Pessoa and News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson.
Asked about the planned visit, a News Corp spokesperson said that “like most boards, they meet in different locations where they have business”.