FirstFT: Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox and News Corp chair

Good morning.

Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chair of Fox and Info Corp, marking the highest of an interval for the extremely efficient media billionaire.

Lachlan Murdoch, his elder son, will grow to be sole chair of Info Corp and proceed as authorities chair and chief authorities of Fox, from mid-November.

The Australian-born mogul, 92, has over the earlier seven a few years transformed an Adelaide newspaper that he inherited from his father right into a worldwide media empire that’s feared and courted by politicians all through the English-speaking world.

However, Murdoch knowledgeable employees that he would keep engaged throughout the agency as chair emeritus. He promised to “be involved every day throughout the contest of ideas”, as he hit out in opposition to elites and completely different media retailers. Here’s the story.

Now we’ve additional on yesterday’s announcement, along with Murdoch’s farewell memo in full.

What do you think about Rupert Murdoch’s announcement? Has primarily essentially the most extremely efficient particular person in data all through the English-speaking world really retired? Let me know at firstft@ft.com — Tee

Proper right here’s what else I’m preserving tabs on proper now:

• Monetary data: S&P Worldwide has manufacturing and suppliers shopping for managers’ indices for the EU, France, Germany, the UK and the US. The UK moreover experiences August retail product sales.

• Pope Francis in France: President Emmanuel Macron will welcome the head of the Catholic Church to the port metropolis of Marseille for a two-day go to.

Yet one more issue: We’re launching our Central Banks publication for premium subscribers. Chris Giles will use nearly 20 years of experience as a result of the Financial Events’ economics editor to provide weekly insights on charges of curiosity and monetary protection because the worldwide battle in opposition to inflation rages on. Don’t miss the first problem subsequent Tuesday — sign up here.

5 additional excessive tales

1. Distinctive: Rishi Sunak plans to reshape the A-levels with a model new “British baccalaureate” to modernise England’s education system, consistent with senior Whitehall insiders. The prime minister’s switch would require all 16-year-olds to evaluate core matters, along with maths and English, within the occasion that they maintain in school previous GCSE stage. Here are more details from the radical plans.

2. US president Joe Biden pledged additional weapons to Ukraine after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday in Washington. The model new $325mn bundle deal will embrace additional artillery, ammunition, anti-tank weapons, cluster munitions, a second Hawk air defence battery, and launchers and interceptors. Here’s why further assistance to Kyiv may be at risk.

3. Diesel prices in Europe have jumped after Russia barred exports of diesel and petrol yesterday, rising nearly 5 per cent to above $1,010 a tonne. Crude prices moreover reversed earlier losses on the announcement — Brent rose 1 per cent to $94 a barrel. With central banks nonetheless stopping in opposition to inflation, the move fuels fears that Moscow is weaponising its oil supplies.

4. Western leaders raised the issue of a Canadian Sikh chief’s killing with Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, as soon as they met on the G20 summit this month. In accordance with people accustomed to the talks, Joe Biden and completely different members of the 5 Eyes intelligence-sharing neighborhood raised the issue on the urging of Canada, which claims New Delhi was involved throughout the killing. Read the full story.

5. UK shopper confidence rose to the perfect stage since January 2022, supported by sturdy wage improvement and easing inflation, consistent with data printed proper now. That’s moreover the second straight month of enhance recorded by GfK’s shopper confidence index. Here’s how economic conditions could risk reversing the upturn.

How successfully did you keep up with the data this week? Take our quiz.

Info in-depth

Governments are going by mounting stress as a result of the world approaches 2030, the yr by which scientists say the planet ought to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions by nearly half. Nonetheless politicians now must reconcile meeting internet zero goals with the political worth of doing so, as native climate change strikes from a peripheral concern for voters to a central election issue globally.

We’re moreover finding out . . . 

Chart of the day

Airline passengers in Europe face the prospect of higher ticket prices following a rally throughout the worth of oil that has threatened carriers’ booming earnings. Air fares have already risen sharply this yr, as airways cash in on hovering demand for journey.

Take a break from the data

Listed below are the six finalists for the Financial Events and Schroders Enterprise E book of the 12 months Award — along with Walter Isaacson’s newly printed biography of Elon Musk.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith