Mind The Gap | How Rupert Murdoch solved his Don Corleone dilemma with a masterpiece of deal making
Selling his media assets to Disney has minimised the News Corp chief’s succession risks and given him a position of flexibility
The essence of smart business is being a crafty trader at the right time.
Great deal makers know when to turn from buyer to seller, switching from offence to defence. Only Rupert Murdoch, the founder and patriarch, could have decisively executed News Corp’s sweeping US$66 billion deal with Disney.
His decision is motivated by many factors, but it does say a lot about the pervasive and collective disintermediating influence in the media sector. Silicon Valley giants such as Amazon, Google, Facebook and Netflix have devoured viewership and readership at an alarming rate, from right under the corporate aegis of big, traditional media companies such as television networks and newspaper publishers.
A US asset manager and former News Corp director told me that Murdoch had one of the sharpest minds for the strategic value of his media properties versus other competitors.
While he tended to overpay for targets, he usually succeeded. He was a skilled acquirer, demonstrating determination and patience like he did with his long pursuit of Time Warner until he decided to end it in 2014.
When companies like Google or Facebook, started by graduate students or a college dropout, can stage a life-threatening challenge, then even the media tycoons must reorganise and become defensive.
