states, my friend donald j. trump. rupert murdoch is a direct line of the oval office in a way he s never enjoyed before. proximity to power. there probably would not have been a president trump without fox news. maybe we won t do it anymore with them. you give the viewers what they want. whatever his instinct is, that s what a great leader is. the channel became focused on telling him what he wanted to hear. james is watching this all in dismay. he is getting uncomfortable with the network under the leadership of his own father. but lachlan and rupert s view was why would we change this? we ve never had bigger ratings. and cracks inside the family are starting to appear. it s august 2017 and rupert murdoch invites bob iger, the head of disney, to have a drink with him at his $29 million vineyard in the hills of bel air. rupert offers iger a glass of wine and they begin to talk. like rupert, bob iger s an empire builder too. for years he s been buildin
the commander-in-chief and the president of the united states, my friend donald j. trump. rupert murdoch is a direct line of the oval office in a way he s never enjoyed before. proximity to power. there probably would not have been a president trump without fox news. maybe we won t do it anymore with them. you give the viewers what they want. whatever his instinct is, that s what a great leader is. the channel became focused on telling him what he wanted to hear. james is watching this all in dismay. he is getting uncomfortable with the network under the leadership of his own father. but lachlan and rupert s view was why would we change this? we ve never had bigger ratings. and cracks inside the family are starting to appear. it s august 2017 and rupert murdoch invites bob iger, the head of disney, to have a drink with him at his $29 million vineyard in the hills of bel air. rupert offers iger a glass of wine, and they begin to talk. like rupert, bob
trump was about to become. and in the months and years that followed, we came to see it as a kind of extended prologue, leading up to an incredibly dark chapter in american history that rupert and lachlan and fox news would play a starring role in. perfect gift for dad. and hot cocoa mustaches for the kids? where can you lose track of time, all while saving time at the same time. lowe s, actually. it s the best place to get everything you need for the holidays. [upbeat music] [sound of tape application] i just need you to sign option three. [cheering] [upbeat music]
part of the company. this grand empire that he s about to inherit is actually just going to be a right-wing news network, fox news. these tensions boil over spectacularly at a family dinner, in a private room, at a swanky manhattan restaurant. the deal is still in negotiation. nothing s been closed. they haven t agreed on a price yet, but they re talking. and lachlan is furious. and he says at one point at this dinner, if you take another phone call on this deal, you will no longer have a son. lachlan and rupert have both, for the record, denied he made those threats. despite lachlan s protestations, his tantrums,
endless rivalry with his brother. but also, politically, it would land him at a company that has no discernible politics at all, and in fact, a company that is almost self-consciously apolitical. we feel very strongly about where we re positioned to grow the company as a standalone company. lachlan, on the other hand, was furious initially about the deal. people in lachlan s world describe this as james rushing to basically gut the company. lachlan wanted the best price for these assets. some people have said that this was, in his view, a loss of his birthright. lachlan loved the glamour of the movie business. to him, the film legacy was a big part of the family legacy, and he did not want to give that up. his father wooed him back from australia to take over the business. here he is. he s moved his family back to los angeles. and then, suddenly, he s getting the rug pulled out from under him. his father s going to sell the biggest chunk of the company,