Fascinating profile of Rupert Murdoch in New York Magazine today. He reminds me of a Tom Wolfe character. You find him repulsive and yet, you want to BE him:
He spent much of the weekend at his apartment at 834 Fifth Avenue—Laurance Rockefeller’s former triplex, which he and his wife, Wendi, had purchased for $44 million in 2005. All things considered, there was much to be pleased about. 20th Century Fox’s Avatar was on track to earn $2 billion, which would make it the highest-grossing film of all time. He had survived a crippling media recession and was licking his chops at the prospect of launching a good old-fashioned newspaper war. And yet the Freud quote was still gnawing at him. “Here he is at the height of his powers, and all anyone wants to talk about is this one quote.
Repulsive. WANT TO BE HIM. Repulsive. WANT TO BE HIM. For eight pages!
That was a horrifying, yet eerily reminiscent read.
(Confession: I worked for Murdoch’s new media operation in the mid-90′s, although I left before James arrived. Still remember how he inspired abject terror in his minions…)