“Rupert Murdoch Is the World’s Most Powerful Media Mogul”

Not for long. The chairman and CEO of News Corp., who likes to view himself as an antiestablishment rebel, is today the ultimate insider. No other media executive has as much personal clout with world leaders, in part because none so willingly uses his moguldom to reward friends and punish enemies. Murdoch has helped elect—or defeat—at least two British prime ministers, several New York City mayors, and numerous American presidents, among others. He is also the ultimate global capitalist, an Australian-turned-American whose real home is his jet. With News Corp.’s ability to beam satellite programming to 40 million subscribers across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, along with its Fox movie and TV studios and cable network, newspapers from Hong Kong to New York, several book publishers, and a burgeoning Internet division, no other media company can claim greater global reach. Nearly half of News Corp.’s $25 billion in revenues last year came from outside the United States.

Even so, Murdoch’s position as the king of media is slipping. For one thing, the satellite-television system he cobbled together after a 20-year struggle may soon unravel. Rupert recently announced that he was close to swapping assets with cable billionaire John Malone in order to buy back Malone’s 19 percent stake in News Corp.—a stake that uncomfortably rivals Murdoch’s 30 percent hold over his own company’s shares. The price is likely to be News Corp.’s dominant position in DirecTV. Such a deal would leave Murdoch without a digital distribution platform in the critical United States market.

For another, Wall Street...