Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch both made significantly less money in 2020 than they did in 2019. But don’t feel sorry for either father or son — the senior Fox executives still made tens of millions of dollars apiece.
In 2020, chairman Rupert Murdoch made $34 million, down from $42.2 million in 2019. CEO Lachlan Murdoch earned $29.2 million this fiscal year, down from his $42.1 million haul last year.
Part of the decrease can be attributed to the fact that both Murdochs, along with other senior executives, agreed in May to forgo salaries through September in order to help the company weather the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Other executives took similar paycuts, including COO John Nallen, chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh and CFO Steve Tomsic.
Lachlan Murdoch’s base salary declined from $3 million last year to $2.5 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, while Rupert Murdoch’s base salary decreased from $6.5 million to $4.2 million.
According to the filing, the voluntary salary reductions from the Murdochs, Nallen, Dinh and Tomsic saved $2.3 million in fiscal 2020 and $6 million overall. That amounts to 4% of the executives’ target compensations for the year.
The lower overall compensation for Lachlan and Rupert also reflects the smaller size of the company following the sale of 21st Century Fox assets to Disney, which closed during the company’s 2019 fiscal year.