Why I’m stepping down

According to this actuarial table from the US government, for a male age 93-101, the probability of dying in any given year varies from 25% (low end) to 40% (high end). Note that it's a number that only goes in one direction - up.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

kstrauser• 3 years ago

For a lich, sure.

nu11ptr• 3 years ago

It is titled "Why I am stepping down" and then, to the best I can tell, only gives this as a reason: "But the time is right for me to take on different roles". In short, corporate-speak for "I'm not going to tell you why, but I'm going to pretend that I am".

mperham• 3 years ago

Murdoch is in his 90s. We don't need a clue to crack this case.

maxehmookau2• 3 years ago

It blows my mind that he's willing to complain about "elites". Does he genuinely not consider himself part of the "elite"? He owns most of the world's media and a sizable chunk of the planet's wealth.

What else could he need to consider himself elite?

dopamean• 3 years ago

He absolutely is part of the elite as are basically everyone he associates with. In my experience when conservatives (rich or poor) start complaining about "the elites" they're almost always talking about Democrats and not always the rich Democrats. I'd bet that if polled a sizable chunk of conservatives in America wouldn't consider Trump to be one of the elites.

sokoloff• 3 years ago

To be fair, many non-conservatives also don't think Trump is elite.

maxehmookau2• 3 years ago

The same thing happens in the UK. I just don't understand how anyone can fall for it.

These unfathomably rich people pointing their fingers at the comfortable middle-class and calling _them_ the elite.

brigadier1322• 3 years ago

When Republicans refer to "Elites" it is short for "Coastal Elites", think overeducated upper middle class person with a lot of opinions and ideas for "simple" things that could be changed to "make the world a better place".

There is another brand of elite on the Republican side that I'm not sure there is a name for as evocative as "Coastal elite". There is "Religious elite" and maybe "Business elite" (but this group sometimes can be categorized as coastal elite)?

TheBigSalad• 3 years ago

That's his schtick. He pisses on your leg and tells you it's raining.

epgui• 3 years ago

A strong sense of civil responsibility and decorum, maybe?

pushcx• 3 years ago

Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.

In this context of a conspiracy to control the media as a stepping-stone to control political systems, the word "elites" is a dogwhistle to deniably say "jews".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitic_trope#:~:text=one%...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_whistle_(politics)

mdp20213• 3 years ago

Does he genuinely not consider himself part of the "elite"?

You are imagining said """elite""" as being one single group, whereas the view presented is that of some powerful parties and agents which are countered by other reactive forces.

hermitcrab3• 3 years ago

This is an old trick. Witness Boris Johnson and Donald trump also railing at the elites that they were so clearly born into.

eptcyka• 3 years ago

This is the end of succession we didn't get to see.

kibwen• 3 years ago

It makes sense to practice stepping down now. If Dante is to be believed, it's a long journey down to Malebolge.

mrala• 3 years ago

“My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”

I would say the lack of self-awareness is astonishing but as is the usual case with reactionaries, this is pure projection.

bitsnbytes• 3 years ago

LOL , exactly what I was thinking .

Either he has 0 self awareness, has gone complete senile , or he is at the top of cow dung pushers.I tend to think he is at top of the dung pushing business.

TradingPlaces• 3 years ago

“I hate elites,” says billionaire owner of multinational media properties.

hackyhacky2• 3 years ago

"Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth," says the billionaire who has been supporting another billionaire's political career since 2015, with very little regard for the truth.

lokar• 3 years ago

Yet again the authoritarian right accuses the left of their own actions.

luxuryballs• 3 years ago

let’s not pretend that manufactured consent isn’t a bipartisan game, it’s just a petty trick to keep us barking up the other tree

r721• 3 years ago

Another discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37597264

blisterpeanuts• 3 years ago

Mr. Murdoch is 92 years old; it seems to me he doesn't need to explain to the world why he is stepping down from a major role.

mellosouls• 3 years ago

You only need to look at the US presidential runs to see why it might actually need to be explained.

kjkjadksj• 3 years ago

Senate is far worse in this regard. Feinstein is seemingly downright senile.

Ekaros• 3 years ago

Hmm couple more decades and USA might end up with first centenarian president...

wackget• 3 years ago

I know Hacker News doesn't want you messing with article titles... but you couldn't have added "Rupert Murdoch: " to the title of your submission?

bdcravens• 3 years ago

I believe it was originally submitted as such and was then changed to the actual title.

dredmorbius• 3 years ago

HN mods occasionally do this to reduce the extent to which people are responding off the title alone rather than the substance of the article, particularly in the case . This is especially so in the case of highly polarising topics, or people, as here, which tend to give rise to "title fever".

I don't necessarily agree with this, either generally or in specific instances, but I understand the rationale.

See:

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21622388>

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23555000>

"Title fever" generally: <https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...>

mdp20213• 3 years ago

Forcing the public to check the source to have that title make sense.

CodesInChaos• 3 years ago

In the original source, that's the first line of the headline, so I wouldn't even consider including the name "messing with the article title".

But bdcravens is right, the submitter included the name, and it was later removed.

pizzaknife• 3 years ago

This reads like a love letter to shareholders; of which, I am not. The reason i say this? love em or hate em: Murdoch leaving the helm means fiscal uncertainty for shareholders. I wish him and everyone else well (of course i always have so this comment is as much drivel as the "news" article)

whalesalad2• 3 years ago

Waystar Royco is down 13 points after this announcement

NickC25• 3 years ago

Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.

Bitch, please. You're a multibillionaire who started a disinformation network that's been banned in several western nations (including your home country) due to blatantly pushing bullshit. Your very same network has argued in court (and won!) that no sane person should believe anything your most watched presenter says because it's so blatantly wrong that nobody with a brain would think he's correct. Your network was started so that the GOP could get their talking points in ("the thinking is done for you") so a repeat of Nixon could never happen again. Your network just got slapped down in court to the tune of $750 million USD because it knowingly pushed lies and falsehoods about the US 2020 presidential election.

You are the epitome of the elites you complain about. Take your billions and kindly fuck off.

The truth is that you're a megalomaniac prick who is solely responsible for the brainwashing that has killed millions, and destroyed tens of millions of families by purposely dividing the USA with your half-truths, your lies, and your dog-whistle pandering.

deltarholamda2• 3 years ago

destroyed tens of millions of families by purposely dividing the USA with your half-truths, your lies, and your dog-whistle pandering

This makes it sound like there are two sides, where one side is smart and is never fooled by propaganda, and the other side is easily gulled by flashy TV effects.

meepmorp• 3 years ago

This makes it sound like there are two sides, where one side is smart and is never fooled by propaganda, and the other side is easily gulled by flashy TV effects.

I think you're reading a bit more into the comment than the author put into it.

AlecSchueler• 3 years ago

No it doesn't. If someone says "You targeted group X" then that does not imply that group Y is beyond being targeted at all.

scanalyst• 3 years ago

Introducing: The Chairman Emeritus podcast

truculent• 3 years ago

He's bad, but he'll die. So I like it!

hermitcrab3• 3 years ago

Murdoch has possibly done more damage to the UK than any other living human.

miguelazo• 3 years ago

Umm, don't forget about the US/world. Bush administration got a lot of key help from them, just to name one example.

hermitcrab3• 3 years ago

No doubt that's true. But I don't live in the US so don't feel very qualified to comment.

theonlybutlet• 3 years ago

The late on a Friday afternoon comment is a bit strange, rather pointed.

hackyhacky2• 3 years ago

It's early Friday morning in Australia right now, and nowhere on Earth is it late Friday afternoon at the moment.

whalesalad2• 3 years ago

this is a reference to a line in the article

mdp20213• 3 years ago

late on a Friday afternoon comment is a bit strange, rather pointed

Why? And what do you mean with "«rather pointed»"?

ericfrazier• 3 years ago

What a total piece of filth.

Why I’m stepping down

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