Bonfire of the Murdochs

How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family –– and the World

De: Gabriel Sherman

Narrado por: Cassandra Medcalf

The real succession story of the Murdoch empire is more shocking than the fictional TV series.

When Rupert Murdoch made a fateful decision about who should inherit his media colossus, he believed that pitting his children against each other would produce the most capable heir. Twenty-five years later, that gamble would tear apart one of the world’s most powerful families and trigger a multi-billion dollar reckoning in a succession battle featuring betrayals, lawsuits, and revenge plots.

In Bonfire of the Murdochs, bestselling author Gabriel Sherman tells the inside story of this epic family war, one whose seeds were planted a half-century ago in Australia when the complicated patriarch left his homeland to conquer the world and please the ghost of his judgmental father. That quest culminated in a media empire that controlled Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and tabloids on three continents, which wielded more political and cultural power than any single company in modern times.

But Rupert’s plan to rip up the secret trust controlling his empire and anoint his conservative firstborn son Lachlan as successor set him on a collision course with his three more liberal children What price would Rupert pay to secure his legacy? For the aging patriarch, this would be his final and most personal deal.

Based on interviews with more than 150 sources, Bonfire of the Murdochs is a richly textured narrative where each child plays their predestined role in a blood feud that explodes in a courtroom showdown. There, Murdoch’s children weaponize his own secrets against him. It is a tragedy Shakespeare would have appreciated, where getting everything you want costs everything you love.

Tough Family

This family had a tough go of it. They however are fabulously wealthy and will be ok in the end. The book does a great job sharing the history of the Murdoch family.

Just....wow!

Didn't realize how much of Succession was based on Rupert's family. Cassandra did a great job of making you feel like she was right there with you as you try to wrap your head around this story of power, influence and money as the family disintegrates.

The love of money is the root of all evil

Some of the American public are brainwashed by the farce of fox and the cult of trump. The ultra rich, for decades are destroying the constitution and the rule of law so they can do what they want and put more money in their pockets while causing billions harm. WTF?

I found the reader’s voice so jarring I stopped listening.

Disliked reader so much that I couldn’t make myself listen to the book. I may read the book one day.