--- description: The media mogul is getting ready to cut back on his work. Here's what TIME said about him in 1977 title: Rupert Murdoch: How His Career Got Started image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c25e5a4b392e894/6988541ee20a87b7a8a8bcc1/1101770117_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Rupert Murdoch First Got Into the Media Business  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 11, 2015 8:07 PM CUT  The Jan. 17, 1977, cover of TIME The Jan. 17, 1977, cover of TIMECover Credit: TED THAI  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 11, 2015 8:07 PM CUT Media titan Rupert Murdoch is preparing to step down as CEO of 21st Century Fox and turn over the reins to his sons, according to [reports](http://time.com/3917675/rupert-murdoch-fox-steps-down/ "undefined") on Thursday. The move would continue a family legacy as media empire builders that reaches back to Murdoch’s father, Sir Keith Murdoch. A reporter for the Melbourne _Age_ who made his name covering the Australian soldiers involved at Gallipoli during World War I, Keith Murdoch went on to thrive as a media executive. But he had little equity in the properties he ran–a lesson not lost on his ambitious son. In a 1977 story, TIME explained how the gambling-loving Rupert Murdoch parlayed his father’s few remaining holdings into a global media behemoth: --- > “” --- In the late 1960s, Murdoch’s burgeoning empire expanded to include London papers and related ventures. His first experiment in the U.S. was a paper in San Antonio, and by 1976, he had the New York _Post_. By[ 1985](http://time.com/vault/issue/1985-04-01/page/80/ "undefined") he’d bought half of 20th Century Fox, and he purchased the rest shortly after. **_Read the full story, here in the TIME Vault:_** [The Battle of New York](http://time.com/vault/issue/1977-01-17/page/79/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3917671/rupert-murdoch-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3917671/rupert-murdoch-history/"},"headline":"How Rupert Murdoch First Got Into the Media Business","datePublished":"2015-06-11T20:07:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:07:23.027Z","description":"The media mogul is getting ready to cut back on his work. Here's what TIME said about him in 1977","url":"https://time.com/3917671/rupert-murdoch-history/","keywords":["Media","Rupert Murdoch"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c25e5a4b392e894/6988541ee20a87b7a8a8bcc1/1101770117_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c25e5a4b392e894/6988541ee20a87b7a8a8bcc1/1101770117_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jan. 17, 1977","caption":"Jan. 17, 1977","creditText":"Cover Credit: TED THAI","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3917671/rupert-murdoch-history/","name":"How Rupert Murdoch First Got Into the Media Business"}}]}] ```