ALEX BRUMMER: Rupert Murdoch’s retirement is a signal moment

Rupert Murdoch’s departure from his two core media groups Fox in the US and News Corp is a signal moment.

There will be no succession battle for the time being, with eldest son Lachlan taking over.

But with three other siblings owning voting shares in a Nevada-based family trust, a possible challenge cannot be ruled out.

The size of the empire has become much smaller. Murdoch completed one of the deals of this century when he sold most of the US entertainment empire to Disney in what was announced in 2019 as a $71.3 billion (£57.5 billion) deal.

It was a top transaction in the market and Disney has since struggled to make it work amid a falling stock price and the return of CEO Bob Iger.

The other coup was the sale of British Sky to American cable giant Comcast for $39 billion a year earlier.

Murdoch’s willingness to make bold, far-reaching decisions in a rapidly changing world of media and communications went largely unsung. Instead, he is often portrayed in the media as an evil genius with too much political power.

The rump of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire will need some form of reform. Fox Corp’s alliance with Donald Trump has cost it dearly.

Earlier this year the company spent $800 million (£645 million) in a legal battle with election equipment supplier Dominion over the network’s alleged spread of voting conspiracy theories.

Fox news channels remain immensely popular, while rivals like CNN fade away.

However, so-called “cord cutting” poses a challenge to the cable subscription model. The popularity of streaming services and the challenge of making a profitable transition are very real.

The change in leadership will also bring News Corp – owner of the Sun, Times and Wall Street Journal – into the fold.

The titles are all involved in what is proving to be a fruitful conversion from paper to digital. But the shadow of the phone hacking beyond the sun still hangs over that title.

Newspapers are deeply entrenched in the Murdoch DNA. But the transition to the next generation will not be entirely smooth.

Generation game

A bigger and more resilient economy will bring Chancellor Jeremy Hunt higher revenues than expected at the time of the March budget and allow him to build a mini war chest.

The key factors are PAYE receipts and VAT, both of which tell us the economy is not in trouble yet.

Inheritance taxes (IHT), a bugbear for potential Tory voters, will also earn the exchequer £3.2 billion in the April-August period, around £300 million more than in the comparable 2023 period.

IHT is often not very high on the agenda of most ordinary citizens, unless they are staring their maker in the eye.

It’s also one of those taxes that may not be on the radar of younger Brits as they struggle with student loans, climbing the housing ladder and all the struggles that are seen as fueling conflict between generations.

This is nonsense. The direct descendants of the baby boomers and their grandchildren should pay close attention.

Many are concerned about what has become known in the US as SKI-ing, Spending the Kids Inheritance, but it may be wiser to focus on IHT.

The coincidental wealth that has been built up in the housing market, together with a number of nice pension pots, has resulted in a completely new group of people ending up in inheritance tax.

For all the whining about intergenerational unfairness, many descendants and grandchildren already benefit from coincidental wealth through the established route of mom and dad’s bank or from ‘educational’ assistance from income.

Nevertheless, with the Grim Reaper arriving for the boomers, the prospect of HMRC seizing the family nest egg should be as worrying to younger voters as it is to the silver surfers. That’s why an end to IHT or greater relief could be such a vote winner.

Simon says

Profit increases at Next are a hallmark of Simon Wolfson’s cautious management style. So the latest profit forecast, from £845 million to £875 million, is no surprise.

It also shows that, despite the Wilko debacle, Brits are still braving the cost of living crisis and scanning their debit and credit cards.

Equally interesting is Wolfson’s clear view on supply chains. His analysis shows that the impact of high inflation is declining rapidly. Other FTSE companies that prioritize PR guff could learn from this.