The proposal had come as audiences shrink for both print media and cable TV, while readers and viewers increasingly get their news and entertainment from online news, social media and streaming.
However, Murdoch called off the proposed merger in January. Murdoch had withdrawn the proposal for the reunion, saying in a letter to the board that he and his son “determined that a combination is not optimal for the shareholders” of either of the companies at the time.
The Murdoch family trust controls roughly 40% of the voting rights of both companies. The family is said to have amassed a fortune of more than $17 billion as of 2023.
Fox and its broadcast and pay TV networks are left over from the $71.3 billion Twenty-First Century Fox sale to Disney in 2019. The media company has focused on news and sports — primarily for its traditional TV networks — as well as the free, ad-supported streamer Tubi, rather than jumping into the direct-to-consumer subscription streaming business like its peers.
Fox, which saw its stock move up slightly on Thursday, has a market cap of more than $15.5 billion. News Corp. has a market cap of more than $11 billion.