Rupert Murdoch

From 1956-67, Murdoch was married to former air hostess, Patricia Booer, with who he had a daughter, Prudence.

After separating from his first wife, he married Scottish journalist, Anna Maria Torv in 1967. The couple had three children Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James, all of who are presently influential entrepreneurs. The couple got divorced after 32 years.

Following the separation, he married businesswoman Wendi Deng--the couple have two daughters, Grace and Chloe.

Keith Rupert Murdoch was born to journalist Keith, and his philanthropist wife, Elisabeth Joy Greene, in Melbourne, on March 11, 1931.

As a young boy, he pursued his education from the ‘Geelong Grammar School’, in Australia. There, he acted as the editor for various school journals including 'The Corian', and 'If Revived'.

Rupert held a part-time job at the 'Melbourne Herald', and was taught the nuances of the profession by his father.

He went on to continue his studies from the 'Worcester College', belonging to the 'University of Oxford', England. Even in college he was the head of the 'Oxford Student Publications Limited'.

After earning his master's degree from college, he was employed with the 'Daily Express' for a brief period of time.

When Sir Keith died in 1952, the young Murdoch came back home, and took over 'News Limited', a media company established by his father. One of its newspapers, 'Adelaide News' became one of the most-read, after the young man took ownership.

From 1956-60, this businessman turned his attention towards acquiring news firms from other media companies, and managed to buy ‘Sunday Times’ in Perth, Western Australia and ‘The Daily Mirror’. He had also managed to increase his stake hold over media firms all across Australia.

In 1964, Rupert got to know of a bid going on for acquiring the Wellington-based newspaper, 'The Dominion', on a trip to New Zealand. The other contender for the acquisition was the powerful Canadian business magnate, Lord Thomson of Fleet. However, it was the thirty-three year old Murdoch who eventually gained control of the 'The Dominion'.

Later that year, he introduced 'The Australian', the nation's first daily, which had its initial operations in Canberra, before shifting base to Sydney.

In 1968, the Australian media tycoon ventured into the British market, and took over 'News of the World', following it up the next year with 'The Sun'. They were initially in the long broadsheet size, but were later shortened to a tabloid format, and were printed in the same press to cut down on costs.

Murdoch as a businessman has acquired several large companies, but his most significant business decision was to establish the ‘News Corporation’. Under the banner, he has been able to gain access to other big names in the media industry. Within twenty years of existence, the firm accumulated wealth of $5 million.