Empire of Influence

To understand today’s world—its media, its politics, and its culture wars—you must first understand Rupert Murdoch. For seventy years, he cultivated leaders like Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Tony Blair, and, eventually, Donald Trump. Across continents and decades, presidents and prime ministers sought his favor—and feared his wrath. But Murdoch’s real achievement is how he built that influence in the first place. 

At twenty-one years old, he inherited two failing Australian papers after his father’s sudden death left the family in debt with rivals circling. Deal by deal, he fought his way from Adelaide to London to America, buying up ailing newspapers that his established competitors were convinced would fail. With each win, he wagered more, until he’d assembled a globe-spanning empire that gave him leverage over politics, culture, and the news itself.

He nearly lost it all under a mountain of debt in 1990. He missed the internet, twice. A phone-hacking scandal made him a pariah in the UK. And late in life, he fought his own children over who would inherit what he’d built. Yet Murdoch’s influence persisted through every crisis: his career both masterclass and cautionary tale about the power that comes from controlling the story.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews, this sweeping biography reveals the man behind the empire—and the century he helped shape.

• “Claire Atkinson has delivered the first high-definition close-up of the most consequential and controversial media baron of the modern era. With gritty reporting and elegant writing, Atkinson leads readers on a private tour of Rupert Murdoch’s kingdom—from private jets and Hollywood parties to tension-filled boardrooms and a Succession-like battle for control of the empire. Like its subject, this book was made for TV.”
  Jonathan Allen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
• "Love him or hate him, Rupert Murdoch is one of the most fascinating and significant figures of the modern age. An ambitious, rapacious outsider who fought his way into the most powerful rooms in the world—Murdoch built an empire that changed media, politics, and popular culture forever. Claire Atkinson deftly captures the audacity, the spectacular bets, and the sheer force of personality behind an extraordinary rise. Empire of Influence is riveting, surprising, and impossible to put down.” 
  Ben Mezrich< New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires, Breaking Twitter, Bringing Down the House, and Checkmate