News Corp newspapers full of praise for Rupert Murdoch as he takes up ‘new role’

Murdoch-owned titles in US, UK and Australia stopped short of saying retirement, but left readers in no doubt about their boss's immense talent

Rupert Murdoch's Australian newspapers hit the streets on Friday morning without the news that the media mogul was stepping down and his son Lachlan would become sole chair of News Corp as well as Fox Corp. The news was broken - after the print deadline in Australia - by one of Murdoch's US mastheads, the Wall Street Journal.

In a note to staff, which was also sent to Australian staff, Murdoch did not use the word retirement. For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change," he said. But the time is right for me to take on different roles."