Rupert Murdoch | MediaGuardian 100 2012
Job: chairman and chief executive, News Corporation
Age: 81
Industry: broadcasting, publishing, digital media
2011 ranking: 6
Rupert Murdoch has already been through "the most humble day of my life". This year he admitted that the phone-hacking saga was "a serious blot on my reputation" in the second of two days giving evidence before the Leveson inquiry. For the world's most powerful media mogul, the past 12 months have seen him forced to pick up the pieces from the affair.
The 81-year-old has been forced to contemplate the division of News Corporation, with the Sun, the Times and his other newspapers to be spun off from the financial shield provided by the lucrative Fox film and TV business. More remarkably still, Murdoch has agreed to step down as chief executive of the publishing business – although he pledges to remain as chairman – whenever the divorce goes through.
In recognition of how far Murdoch's credibility has been dented, there was no summer party this year in London – it would not be worth risking snubs from politicians by holding a high profile event. He has never before in 11 years been outside the top 10 in the MediaGuardian 100 — but he is still so high because it would be unwise to write the man off, or dismiss the influence he still wields.
Seven months after shutting the News of the World, Murdoch presided over the launch of the Sun on Sunday. Unveiled at a time when the Sun newsroom was reeling from arrests of several staff for allegedly paying bribes to public officials, Murdoch said the red-top was "part of me" and his action helped reinforce the title. A kinder, gentler paper, the 50p title went straight back to number one at the weekend – but its sale of 2.13m at the last count is more than 400,000 copies less than the old News of the World.
Nor is the case that Murdoch is without influence. The Sun began to fire shots across David Cameron's bows in the spring; Murdoch openly flirted with the UK's two principal political mavericks – Boris Johnson, who invited him to the Olympics, and Alex Salmond, who he described as the "most brilliant politician" in the country.
And if there was less overt contact with the prime minister, Murdoch was quick to find another way to get his voice across. He joined Twitter at the turn of the year, has amassed 320,000 followers, and opts for a "take no prisoners" approach to his opinions. But at least that meant better news for David Cameron: no longer "ditherer-in-chief", his rightward reshuffle was "first class", Murdoch tweeted earlier this month.