Tracking the Murdoch heirs
July 9, 2023
Here is an attempt to explain the direct heirs to the Murdoch family's controlling stake in News Corporation. This family tree also helps.
Prudence Macleod: Born in Adelaide in 1958 when Rupert's first marriage to the late Patricia Booker was still going strong. Married briefly to predatory financier Christian Odey for 15 months and then married Eton-educated Alasdair Macleod who spent time in London as general manager of Times Newspapers and later returned to Sydney as CEO of Cumberland Newspapers. Left News Ltd in 2010 after a reported falling out with The Australian's editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell. Prudence herself has never worked in the business and lives in Sydney with what The AFR estimates is a $2.5 billion fortune.
Elisabeth Murdoch: Born in Sydney in August 22, 1968, the first of Rupert's children to his second wife Anna Torv. Quit a senior position at BSkyB in 2000 after seven years in News Corp's US and UK television operations. Has three daughters and a son to two husbands and lives in London where she ran her own television production company Shine, before it was sold to News Corp for $700 million in 2011. Worked briefly as an executive at News Corp after the sale but never joined the board or held a senior company-wide post.
Lachlan Murdoch: Born in London on September 8, 1971. Was living in New York as deputy chief operating officer of News Corp but quit in 2006 with a $10 million payout and returned to Sydney as a humble non-executive director. Married to Australian model Sarah O'Hare and there first son Kalan arrived in November 2004. Returned in 2015 as co-chairman of both News Corp and 21st Century Fox.
James Murdoch: Born in London on December 13 in 1973. Ran BSkyB in London and was responsible for News International during the hacking cover-up. Married to former model Kathryn Hufschmid who had their first daughter, Anneka, in Hong Kong in April 2003.
1. James MacLeod: Born in the UK in 1991 and the first new Murdoch heir in 18 years. The eldest grandchild was produced by Prudence and Alasdair Macleod. He's now 32 but in 2015 revealed that he was voting Green in the UK elections. The quotes were as follows: “I'm probably going to vote Green,” MacLeod, who cycles to meetings, revealed. “I'm not particularly attracted to the Tories and because I'm a Londoner, I'm quite an environmentalist. “I think the Greens have sound policies across the board and over the past four years they've strengthened their brand. Their social media strategy has really made them accessible to younger people.” According to Linkedin, he's now running a business called Beyond Words in the UK.
2. Angus MacLeod: Born in 1993 in UK. Now 30 and living in Sydney. Was the last male heir to the crown before Lachlan's boy Kalan arrived. There were seven straight female heirs in between.
3. Cornelia Pianim: Born 1994 in New York to Elisabeth and Elkin Pianim, the son of a Ghanian politician who Elisabeth met at university but discarded when spindoctor Matthew Freud came on the scene. Now 29. See this piece profiling her social media exploits.
4. Clementine MacLeod: Born in 1996 in UK to Prudence and Alasdair Macleod. Now 27 and living in Sydney.
5. Anna Pianim: Born 1997 to Elisabeth and Elkin Pianim in London. Now 25 and presumably living in London.
6. Charlotte Freud: Born in London in November 2000 to Elisabeth and Matthew Freud. Changed her name to Tiarlee and married at the age of 21 in July 2022 to 36 year old musician Luke Storey. See Tattler coverage. She was the first Rupert Murdoch grandchild to marry.
7. Grace Murdoch: Born October 2001 in New York. Rupert's 5th child and first to Wendi Deng. Now 21 and presumably living with her mum.
8. Anneka Murdoch: Born in Hong Kong in April 2003. First grandchild carrying the Murdoch name and first child of James and Kathryn Hufschmid. Now 20. This might be her on Twitter.
9. Chloe Murdoch: Born in New York July 2003. Second daughter to Rupert and Wendi and seventh straight female heir.
10. Kalan Murdoch: Anna Murdoch's first grandson was born to Lachlan and Sarah in Sydney in November 2004. Now back living in Sydney.
11. Aidan Patrick Murdoch: Lachlan and Sarah's second son was born on 6th May, 2006, and lives with his parents in Los Angeles after a solid stint in Sydney.
12. Samson Murdoch Freud: born 13th January 2007. Elisabeth Murdoch's first son and fourth child who lives with her parents in London. Now.
13. Aerin Elisabeth Murdoch: Born 12th April 2010. Lachlan and Sarah's first daughter and third child.
That's 13 grandchildren in 19 years for Rupert. After starting with two boys, Rupert had five girls straight, plus two girls of his own. So he was at 7 seven straight girls when Lachlan and Sarah finally delivered a boy in November 2004, which started a run of three boys before Lachlan and Sarah seemingly finished the generation with daughter Aerin.
This continues a trend in the Murdoch family. Rupert was the only son with three older sisters, he's had two sons and four daughters, and they in turn have produced six grand-daughters and five grandsons. The women seemingly have the numbers but rarely get the power.
This Honey Magazine piece attempts to profile the female family members.
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