Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News wipes $500M from the company’s value — while shares in Fox Corp fell as much as 5.4%
- Fox News shares fell Monday, knocking $500 million off the company’s value after announcing Tucker Carlson’s immediate departure
- The shares of Fox Corp. bottomed out at 5.4% before eventually recovering slightly to a loss of 2.9%
- His departure led analysts to question how Fox will attract advertisers and what will replace programming after Carlson’s impeachment
The departure of Tucker Carlson, the most popular prime-time host on Fox News who regularly averaged more than 3 million viewers per night, led to a significant drop in the company’s stock price Monday.
Carlson’s firing wiped out $500 million from the company’s market value, and shares fell 4 percent within seconds of announcing his departure.
By midday Monday, shares of Fox Corporation were down about 5.4 percent, from $34 a share to less than $32, though shares of the company recovered somewhat to fall 2.9 percent before the end of trading .
Carlson’s show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, was the shiny jewel of Fox’s nightly lineup, but a string of recent controversies, including the Dominion defamation claims and his own comments about the January 6 riots, left him in hotter water than he’s used to.
It is unclear how long his contract will run and whether Fox will pay severance pay.
The departure of Tucker Carlson, the most popular prime-time host on Fox News, led to a significant fall in the company’s stock price Monday
Fox News shares fell Monday, knocking $500 million off the company’s value after announcing Tucker Carlson’s immediate departure
Carlson’s departure comes just days after Fox News agreed to pay $787 million to settle the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the company for $1.6 billion.
The settlement, along with Carlson’s departure, has allowed the news company to rebuild.
“Fox Cable News is now in rebuilding mode and it will likely take some time for the stock to recover,” KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon Nispel told Bloomberg.
Despite the setback, Nispel believes Fox News will regain the majority of its total viewership once a replacement host is announced, though investors will be keeping a close eye on the situation.
Calron’s departure also comes just four days after Dan Bongino’s, and several months after Fox “parted” with President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara.
Among the discoveries filed before trial were text messages in which Carlson described his “passionate” hatred of President Trump.
Last week’s settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems spared executives and on-air talent from taking the stand in a defamation lawsuit in which Fox aired false claims of stolen elections in the weeks following the loss of former President Donald Trump in 2020.
The lawsuit still revealed much of what Fox personalities had said about the bogus election claims, including Carlson.
Carlson’s posts denounced the news department and management, revealing how he felt about Donald Trump and showing his skepticism about the election lies — so much so that Fox lawyers and company founder Rupert Murdoch, pictured, stopped him as part of their defense from the company
His unexplained departure has put a spotlight on what he said in statements, emails and text messages among the thousands of pages Dominion released leading up to the jury’s selection in the case.
Carlson’s posts berated the news department and management, revealing how he felt about Donald Trump and showing his skepticism about the election lies — so much so that Fox lawyers and company founder Rupert Murdoch stopped him as part of their defense of the company.
A 2020 report by CNN’s Brian Stelter listed his salary as $10 million a year.
During his last show on Friday, Carlson gave no indication that this would be his last appearance.
As Fox shares plummeted, investors began buying up parts of Rumble, Peter Thiel’s conservative video network, along with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a specialty acquisition company that merged with Trump Media.
Rumble shares rose 6 percent, while Digital World rose 2.9 percent.