Rupert's Salary

For years I thought I knew Rupert Murdoch. I must have read fifty books about him during the research for my novel "$everance". But I recently saw the HBO series "Succession" and I realize I missed something important during my research. I missed the absolutely obscene wealth he keeps for himself. It was beyond my imagination. I read over and over again that he was constantly teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and figured he must have taken SOME precautions just in case. That's the part I got wrong. I thought he was just purely evil for evil's sake like Snidely Whiplash. Nope. Snidely does the dirty work himself. Rupert doesn't get his finely manicured hands dirty. He makes everyone else do the dirty work, and he keeps all the profit for himself.

Anyway, since I saw that series I take all stories like this with a grain of salt. From this morning's New York Times...

Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation, the owner of Fox News and the Fox television network, announced pay cuts to its executive ranks that will affect 700 employees as it worked to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch, the elder son of Rupert, made the announcement in a memo sent to the company’s 7,700 workers on Wednesday.

“While we don’t know exactly when we will return to normal and full operations across the company, we have decided to take several new actions to ensure that we remain strong and are well-positioned when this crisis recedes,” Lachlan Murdoch said.

He and the family patriarch will forgo their entire salaries through September, though most of their compensation comes from stock awards and bonuses. Rupert Murdoch makes $5 million in salary but his compensation tops $29 million with incentives and stock. Lachlan Murdoch makes $3 million in salary, with an additional $20 million coming from stocks and bonuses.

That million or so that he's giving up will be going right back into his pocket the second he can get away with it. It's probably already there now. Suffering is for others.