Fox News is owned by Fox Corporation, a publicly traded mass media company. While the company trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbols FOXA and FOX, public shareholders do not hold absolute control. The network remains firmly under the thumb of the Murdoch family, who direct corporate strategy through a specialized dual-class stock structure and a family trust.
Understanding who calls the shots behind the scenes requires looking past standard ticker symbols. The corporate architecture involves a complex mix of family voting power, institutional giants, and historical spin-offs that separate the broadcast network from other publishing assets.
The Parent Company: Fox Corporation
Fox News operates as a primary subsidiary under the umbrella of Fox Corporation. Launched in its current standalone corporate form in March 2019, Fox Corporation houses several major media assets alongside the news channel, including the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports, Fox Television Stations, and the streaming platform Tubi.
Fox Corporation was born out of a massive corporate restructure. Prior to 2019, Fox News belonged to 21st Century Fox. When The Walt Disney Company purchased the vast majority of 21st Century Fox's film and television entertainment assets for roughly $71 billion, the remaining news and sports properties were spun off into the newly independent Fox Corporation.
Because Fox Corporation is a public company, millions of shares are owned by everyday investors and large financial institutions. However, the economic ownership of the company is heavily split from its voting control.
The Murdoch Family Trust and Voting Control
The true power behind Fox News rests with the Murdoch Family Trust, which holds roughly 36% to 39% of the voting stock in Fox Corporation.
This control is made possible by a dual-class share structure:
- Class A shares: These carry limited or no voting rights and are traded publicly on the open market for institutional and retail investors.
- Class B shares: These carry full voting rights and are predominantly concentrated within the Murdoch Family Trust.
By separating economic equity from voting power, the family ensures that leadership decisions remain centralized. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch founded Fox News in 1996 and ran the broader empire for decades. Though he stepped down as chairman of Fox Corporation, handing the reins to his eldest son Lachlan Murdoch as executive chair and CEO, the family trust preserves ironclad oversight over editorial direction and executive appointments.
Major Institutional Shareholders
While the Murdoch family dictates how votes are cast, large institutional investment firms own the vast majority of the actual economic stake (Class A shares) in Fox Corporation. These passive and active fund managers hold shares on behalf of millions of individual retirement accounts, pension funds, and mutual funds.
The largest institutional holders typically include:
- The Vanguard Group: Holds a massive passive stake, often representing upwards of 10% of total Class A shares through various index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
- BlackRock: Controls a multi-million-share position through its suite of institutional and retail index products.
- State Street Corporation: Manages significant equity holdings via index-tracking funds.
- Active Asset Managers: Firms like Dodge & Cox hold meaningful blocks of shares through active value-investing strategies.
These institutional entities possess immense financial interest in the profitability of Fox Corporation, but they do not interfere with the day-to-day journalism or political posture of the network, leaving those choices to Lachlan Murdoch and the board of directors.
Separation from News Corp
People often confuse Fox Corporation with News Corp, a separate publicly traded entity. Both companies trace their lineage back to the original News Corporation empire, but they split cleanly in 2013.
News Corp houses print and digital publishing assets, including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, HarperCollins publishers, and major Australian and British newspapers. Fox Corporation, conversely, focuses entirely on broadcast television, sports, and cable news. Both companies share a similar ownership DNA through the Murdoch Family Trust, but legally, financially, and operationally, they are entirely distinct corporations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fox News a publicly traded company?
Fox News itself is not publicly traded. It operates as a private subsidiary. Investors who want financial exposure to the network must buy shares of its parent company, Fox Corporation (traded on Nasdaq as FOXA and FOX).
Who is the current CEO of Fox News?
Lachlan Murdoch serves as the Executive Chair and CEO of Fox Corporation, overseeing the corporate operations of Fox News Media alongside the broader portfolio of broadcast and digital entities.
Can institutional investors change Fox News's programming?
No. Even though firms like Vanguard and BlackRock own large percentages of the economic equity, the dual-class share system grants the Murdoch Family Trust voting control. Institutional shareholders cannot dictate editorial policy or remove leadership against the family's wishes.
Why did Disney buy parts of Fox but not Fox News?
When Disney sought to acquire 21st Century Fox's movie studios and entertainment catalog in 2019, Fox News and Fox Sports were explicitly left out. Regulators would have heavily scrutinized a merger combining broadcast networks with Disney's existing properties, and the Murdoch family wanted to retain absolute control over their core news and sports assets.
