Rupert Murdoch’s parting blast at self-serving elites – and a rallying cry for free speech as he announces he will step down as chairman of Fox and NewsCorp after 70 years

• Media tycoon claimed they’re trying to silence those who do not agree with them

Freedom of speech is at risk from elites and bureaucrats, warned Rupert Murdoch in his resignation letter yesterday.

The media tycoon claimed they were trying to silence those who did not agree with them.

He said that despite stepping down as chairman of Fox Corporation he would be ‘involved every day in the contest for ideas’.

Mr Murdoch’s pugnacious tone surprised some given he was finally stepping back from day-to-day control of his media empire.

The rest of the letter had a more valedictory feel and involved thanking Fox staff including ‘the truck drivers distributing our papers’ and ‘the cleaners who toil when we have left the office’.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch claimed elites and bureaucrats were trying to silence those who did not agree with them 

Mr Murdoch’s pugnacious tone surprised some given he was finally stepping back from day-to-day control of his media empire. Pictured: Rupert Murdoch and son Lachlan Murdoch, who is replacing him as chairman of Fox and NewsCorp

But it appeared to show a hostile attitude towards the Establishment that has not dimmed with advancing age.

In his letter Mr Murdoch warned that ‘the battle for freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense’.

READ MORE: The heir who won an empire: How Lachlan Murdoch was brought up in New York high society but ‘never behaved like a spoiled rich kid’ as he pored through newspapers with his mogul father before growing up to inherit his life’s work 

He has previously railed against what he dubbed the ‘awful woke orthodoxy’.

He wrote that his father ‘firmly believed in freedom’ and his son Lachlan was ‘absolutely committed to the cause’. Mr Murdoch said: ‘Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of the rarefied class.

‘Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.

‘In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas.’

The tone left Fox insiders in ‘mild shock’ that Mr Murdoch went out in such a fashion, which US website the Daily Beast called ‘barn burning’. One former Fox News executive said the ‘combative tone was a bit of a surprise’.

Mr Murdoch made clear in the letter he was in ‘robust health’ and would be an ‘active member’ of the News Corp community. He added: ‘I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest, and reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas and advice.’

Mr Murdoch’s comments drew a sharp response from some observers. Angelo Carusone, of media watchdog Media Matters, described his legacy as ‘one of deceit, destruction, and death’.

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