Any
thoughts that Ozzie-American media baron Rupert Murdoch might
be ready to ease the pedal on the breakneck pace of life that
he leads could well be a tad premature if one goes by the
interview, which he gave during the airing of a documentary
aired on BBC2 over the weekend.
Speculation that Murdoch might be thinking ahead to the day
when he would "hang up his boots" increased after he suggested
in a recent interview to London's "Financial Times" that his
two sons, Lachlan and James, could share the future leadership
of News Corporation.
 |
Rupert
Murdoch:
"Excuse
me? Somebody said I'm retiring?"
|
In
the BBC2 interview, the septuagenarian dismissed rumours that
he was to go easy on the pedal and even seemed to suggest
there was no way he would hand over the wheel of the News
Corp juggernaut to his kids for at least the next 30 years.
During the course of the documentary he said that his heart
is perfect, there is no sign of cholesterol in his system.
He said that he would live to score his century.
"I don't like the idea of retirement. Retirement is something
that was not on my radar screen and still isn't," Murdoch
was quoted as saying, adding that his second wife Anna and
he split on account of her demands on him to go easy in
his professional career.
The Australian documentary shows Murdoch working out and
even getting into a boxing session with a sparring partner.
Hotel officials in India (wherever he has stayed on his
India visits) have revealed to indiantelevision.com how
the media baron normally makes a dash for the gym whenever
he comes visiting. "For a 70-year-old he is extremely fit,"
says an executive in one of the hotels where he has stayed.
Murdoch's children are among the largest shareholders of
the $30 billion asset strong News Corp which controls SkyDigital,
News International, Fox Television and 20th Century Fox.
During the course of the documentary Murdoch is quoted as
saying: "I want them to be happy and be able to leave them
great opportunities like my father left me. They don't have
to but all the signs are they want it very much. I just
hope they don't push me out too soon."
Fat chance of that happening if one goes by his determination
to go past 100.
Picture courtesy The Age
Click here for more headlines
|
