Rupert And Lachlan Murdoch See Pay Dip In Fiscal 2019 After Disney Merger

Dade Hayes

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In fiscal 2019, a period when the shape of the Murdoch media empire was transformed due to the sale to Disney of most of 21st Century Fox, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch saw their total compensation decline.

According to a proxy statement filed by Fox Corp. with the SEC, chairman Rupert Murdoch collected $42.2 million in salary and bonuses in the fiscal year ending June 30, down nearly 17% from $49.2 million in 2018. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, meanwhile, took in $42.1 million, a 17% falloff from $50.7 million in the prior year.

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The $71.3 billion Disney-Fox deal closed in March, and made Fox Corp. a much smaller and more focused media entity centered on the Fox broadcast network, Fox News, Fox Sports and a local TV station portfolio. After 21st Century Fox faded from the scene, a new publicly held entity, Fox Corp., took its place.

Because of that significant transaction, the proxy filing included a table laying out pro forma numbers reflecting what the company’s management team would be expected to take home in its current, scaled-down state. For Rupert Murdoch, the total was $29.3 million, and for Lachlan Murdoch it was $23.6 million.

“This supplemental table is not required, but in light of the extraordinary and transitional nature of fiscal 2019, the company provides this summary as representative of the annual compensation programs Fox would expect to pay its named executive officers on a go-forward basis,” the proxy statement said.

John Nallen, who continued in the role of COO from 21st Century Fox through the Fox Corp. era, got $20.9 million in total compensation in fiscal 2019, down from $23.8 million in 2018.

Chief Legal and Policy Officer Viet Dinh, installed in his position last year, took in a total of $24.1 million, while CFO Steven Tomsic received $9.9 million. Neither had prior-year comparisons.

In the proxy filing, the company also said it has set its annual shareholder meeting for November 14 on the Fox studio lot.

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