News Corp

In 1868, News UK is founded, marking a significant development in the media industry.

In 1918, James Edward Davidson, a journalist and former editor of the Melbourne Herald, bought two provincial newspapers - the Barrier Miner in Broken Hill and the Recorder in Port Pirie, South Australia, after being pushed out of the Herald for asserting his editorial independence.

In 1922, News Limited was secretly established by a mining company owned by powerful industrialists for the purpose of disseminating propaganda.

Founded in 1923, News Limited concealed its mining company connections while claiming to provide independent and impartial news to the public.

In 1949, Keith Murdoch took control of Adelaide's afternoon tabloid The News.

In 1952, Rupert Murdoch inherited a controlling interest in The News after the death of his father, Keith Murdoch.

In 1973, News Ltd. made its first acquisition in the United States by purchasing the San Antonio Express and News.

In 1976, News Ltd. purchased the New York Post from Dorothy Schiff for $31 million.

In 1980, the original News Corporation is formed as a holding company.

In April 1983, the New York Post prints a memorable cover featuring the headline 'Headless Body in Topless Bar.'

In 1984, News Corp purchased the Chicago Sun-Times from Field Enterprises and Travel Weekly from Ziff Davis for a total of $90 million.

On May 6, 1985, News Corp announced the purchase of the Metromedia television stations and its syndication arm from John Kluge for $3.5 billion, leading to the establishment of a new U.S. commercial broadcasting television network.

In 1987, News Corp purchased the book publisher Harper and Row for $300 million. This acquisition marked News Corp's entry into the book publishing industry.

In 1988, News Corp bought the Philadelphia-based Triangle Publications, known for magazines like TV Guide and Seventeen, for $3 billion. The acquisition expanded News Corp's media portfolio significantly.

In 1989, News Corp acquired the British book publisher William Collins, Sons for $721 million, which later merged with Harper and Row to create HarperCollins. This merger strengthened News Corp's presence in the publishing sector.

In 1990, News Corp was able to force a merger between its subsidiary Sky Television and rival satellite operator BSB, forming BSkyB. This merger allowed BSkyB to dominate the British pay-TV market.

In 1992, News Corp faced financial difficulties and had to sell off its American magazine interests to K-III Communications and spin off its Australian magazine interests as Pacific Magazines. The company incurred large debts, partly due to losses from its stake in the Sky Television satellite network in the UK.

In 1993, News Corp acquired a 63.6% stake in the Hong Kong-based STAR TV satellite network from Pearson for over $500 million. This acquisition was followed by the purchase of the remaining 36.4% in July 1995. Rupert Murdoch highlighted the role of satellite broadcasting in providing uncensored information to residents of closed societies.

In 1996, Fox News started broadcasting in the United States, catering to a right-of-center audience as identified by Rupert Murdoch.

In 1999, News Corporation expanded its music holdings in Australia by acquiring a controlling share in Mushroom Records and merging it with Festival Records to create Festival Mushroom Records (FMR). The management of both labels was overseen by James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch.

In late 2003, News Corp acquired a 34% stake in Hughes Electronics, the operator of DirecTV, the largest American satellite TV system. The acquisition was valued at US$6 billion and later led to a strategic exchange with Liberty Media in 2008.

News Corp agreed to sell eight of its television stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners for approximately $1.1 billion in December 2007. These stations are US Fox affiliates and became part of Oak Hill's Local TV LLC division.

In April 2010, News Corporation sold Bulgarian broadcaster bTV, along with cable channels bTV Comedy and Btv Cinema, to Central European Media Enterprises for $400 million. The deal also included News Corporation's 74% stake in Radio Company CJ, which owned five radio stations.

In September 2010, News Corporation sold 90% of their stake in Fijian newspapers (Fiji Times, Nai Lalakai, and Shanti Dut) to Motibhai Group of Companies due to the Fijian government's requirement that media outlets must be 90% owned by Fiji Nationals.

In November 2010, News Corporation purchased education technology and student progress tracking company Wireless Generation for $360 million. Wireless Generation was known for its partnership with NY City Education Department's School of One pilot program, now known as Teach to One.

On July 13, 2011, Rupert Murdoch announced the withdrawal of News Corp's takeover bid for BSkyB due to concerns related to the News of the World scandal. News Corporation retained 39.1% ownership of BSkyB.

Rupert Murdoch announced the split of News Corporation into two publicly traded companies - one focused on media and the other on publishing, in response to shareholder concerns and to enhance long-term shareholder value. The publishing operations were spun out into a new company with Robert James Thomson as CEO, while the original company was renamed 21st Century Fox.

News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, was formed on June 28, 2013, following a spin-off of the media outlets of the original News Corporation as 21st Century Fox (21CF). The company operates across digital real estate information, news media, book publishing, and cable television.

On December 20, 2013, News Corp announced the acquisition of Storyful, a social news agency based in Dublin, Ireland. Storyful specialized in sourcing and verifying user-generated content from social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram for distribution.

On May 2, 2014, News Corp acquired romance novel publisher Harlequin Enterprises from Torstar for $415 million. Harlequin Enterprises now operates as a subsidiary of News Corp's HarperCollins.

On September 30, 2014, News Corp announced the acquisition of Move, Inc., a real estate listings company and owner of Realtor.com. This acquisition included a 20% stake previously owned by REA Group, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia.

In October 2015, News Corp sold its digital education brand Amplify to a management team supported by private investors. The sale marked a strategic shift in News Corp's digital education ventures.

In June 2016, News Corp acquired Wireless Group, formerly known as UTV Media, a British radio broadcaster, for $296 million. This acquisition expanded News Corp's media presence in the UK.

In 2018, News Corp restructured Foxtel and introduced Kayo, a revolutionary sports streaming product offering over 50 sports in a single app.

Fox Corporation, which holds 21st Century Fox's national broadcasting, news and sports assets, became the sister company of News Corp under the Murdoch family's control on March 19, 2019.

In recent years, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp papers have shifted towards a more politically aggressive stance, resembling the openly partisan approach of British tabloids.

On July 31, 2020, James Murdoch resigned from the News Corp board of directors due to disagreements over certain editorial content and strategic decisions.

During 2021, News Corp and Google entered a groundbreaking agreement where Google would pay News Corp for featuring its trusted journalism on Google's news sites globally.

On February 4, 2022, News Corp suffered a cyberattack believed to be linked to China.

On October 14, 2022, a special committee was established to explore a potential merger of Fox and News Corp, but the proposed merger was abandoned on January 24, 2023.

On September 21, 2023, Rupert Murdoch announced he would step down as News Corp's chairman by November.