This morning’s Financial Review had a New York Times feature on page 16 thath said the Murdoch sons — Lachlan and James — were now looking to ‘“take on” Roger Ailes, the controversial head of Fox News. Overnight the story moved on from that effort and became a case of “Goodbye Roger, been nice knowing you” as Gabriel Sherman, writing for New York magazine, reported that 21st Century Fox co-chairmen Rupert Murdoch and son Lachlan, as well as CEO son James, had agreed to remove Roger Ailes. But our trio of Murdochs can’t agree on the timing and nature of Roger’s exit.
The magazine reported that the Murdochs:
“… have settled on removing the 76-year-old executive, say two sources briefed on a sexual-harassment investigation of Ailes being conducted by New York law firm Paul, Weiss. After reviewing the initial findings of the probe, James Murdoch is said to be arguing that Ailes should be presented with a choice this week to resign or face being fired.”
A sexual harassment lawsuit brought against Ailes by Gretchen Carlson has sparked the internal investigation, but the inquiry ordered by the company from an outside law firm has expanded into a wide-ranging inquiry into Ailes’ controversial management style, according to the report.
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