The Greek drama that is the Murdoch Family has encountered another plot twist with the resignation of James Murdoch, younger son of Rupert Murdoch, from the board of News Corporation, citing “disagreements over editorial content”. He has previously criticised News Corp outlets for climate change coverage, especially over the Australian wildfires which the Murdoch media blamed on arson. It is also thought James has contributed to Joe Biden’s campaign in contrast to his father’s Trump support. His departure would appear to grant more influence to his brother Lachlan who shares his father’s conservative views.
James, born 13 December 1972, was always the better fit with his father since the ageing patriarch is a Pisces Sun with Sagittarius Moon while James is a Sagittarius Sun and Pisces Moon. But surviving in the shark pond of a dynastic family where divide and rule was always Pa’s modus operandi would never be easy.
The James/Rupert relationship chart has a complementary (=more whole when together) composite New Moon but that has been upended by tr Uranus squares recently – so it was presumably time for a parting of the ways.
James does have tr Pluto square his Uranus aiming for a final aspect this fall which is a staging post influence indicating a time to revision life ahead. Not quite a teenage rebellion or a mid life crisis but certainly a time to reconsider ambitions and goals. He presumably won’t be short of money but he does look a touch lacklustre in 2021 with tr Neptune square his Sun.
Rupert, now heading for 90, gives no sign of handing over the reins and heading for an armchair but he’ll have to relinquish his grip at some point. His Saturn in Capricorn opposition Pluto and an 8th house Mars gives him an iron grip but even he will have to come to terms with mortality at some point. His Solar Arc Saturn is in a blocked square to his Pluto, exact in six months’ time; and tr Pluto is opposition his Mars/Pluto exactly now and again late this November to late December which is equally stuck, frustrated and aggravated. Plus a setback from tr Saturn opposition his Mars through the second half of this November. So maybe just maybe the USA election result won’t please him.
What is salutary looking at the three principal players amongst the Murdoch children as far as the business goes is how much at odds they are with each other. The relationship charts between:
Lachlan and James – a palpable dislike and power struggling Mars square Pluto.
James and Elisabeth – Mars Pluto conjunction for the same as above and a suspicious Neptune opposition Saturn.
Lachlan and Elisabeth – an aggravated Mars Saturn conjunction.
Their relationships with each other are almost more fraught than with their father – which was presumably the point.
Rupert Murdoch isn’t dodgy in the same way as Robert Maxwell but they do share some astro-similarities – Maxwell was a Gemini to Murdoch’s Pisces, and he had a Mars Pluto in Cancer square Saturn and trine Uranus so the same ruthless drive for domination of his children as well as his business empire.
Rupert Murdoch might be right wing but his prime motivation is profit. (He is notoriously tight with his money.) He would back anyone if it meant making a profit. When he was trying to break into the Chinese media market he immediately began sprouting the party line of the Chinese Communist Party. It just happens that echoing back the prejudices of the right in Fox News and his newspapers turns a tidy profit and keeps him tight with the corridors of power in the US. Things should probably go into decline for Rupert when tr. Neptune squares his moon in three years time. Lachlan, his heir apparent is a hard right conservative, but he is not a business savant like his father. I would think that News Ltd will begin to break up when Rupert departs the mortal coil.