Public tributes Rupert Murdoch has given to dead people
May 3, 2026
This list track public tributes that Rupert has made when people have died.
Roger Ailes
Having sacked Roger Ailes on July 21, 2016 for serial sexual harassment issues, albeit with a $US40 million payout, Rupert was more than effusive when he died in May 2017 issuing the following statement:
Everybody at Fox News is shocked and grieved by the death of Roger Ailes. A brilliant broadcaster, Roger played a huge role in shaping America's media over the last thirty years. He will be remembered by the many people on both sides of the camera that he discovered, nurtured and promoted. Roger and I shared a big idea which he executed in a way no one else could have. In addition, Roger was a great patriot who never ceased fighting for his beliefs. At 21st Century Fox we will always be enormously grateful for the great business he built. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Elizabeth and son Zachary.
Ken Cowley
When Ken Cowley died in October 2022, the news was broken by Fairfax-owned 2GB but both key Murdoch men came up with strong tributes, as The SMH reported at the time:
“It is with deep regret that I've learned of Ken Cowley's passing,” Rupert Murdoch said in a prepared statement on Monday afternoon. “Ken was one of Australia's most outstanding executives. His leadership was integral to News Corp's growth from a small publisher to Australia's finest media company. In Ken's long association with News over many decades, I admired his loyalty, integrity and business leadership.”
Lachlan Murdoch also weighed in: “Ken Cowley was one of News' most legendary and successful executives,” News Corp's co-chairman, Lachlan Murdoch said. “His contribution to Australian journalism and media cannot be [over]stated. I will always deeply appreciate his mostly calm and always sage advice to me while I was ‘learning the ropes' under him 30 years ago! He was both a kind and a tough boss. The best kind to work for.”
Frank Devine
When Frank Devine passed in July 2009, Rupert Murdoch was approached by Peter Coleman and offered up the comment: “Frank had a great sense of humour… which he applied to nearly everything in life!”
Steve Dunleavy
The notorious tabloid hard man died aged 81 in 2019 and Rupert Murdoch immediately described him as “one of the greatest reporters of all time”. See The Australian.
Helen Handbury
Rupert's older sister passed on Monday, November 22, 2004 and News Ltd put out a statement which AAP covered very early on Wednesday November 24, including reporting that she was a director of CARE Australia, Southdown Press, Progress Press and Advertiser Newspapers before moving to a farm in Victoria in the 1970s. "Mrs Handbury gave enormous support to medical and educational services, cultural and sporting activities and individuals," the News Limited statement said. "She had a keen eye for those in need who did not fall under the umbrella of governmental or city-based philanthropic aid and purposely avoided recognition for her generosity." Mrs Handbury's immediate family, including sons Matt, Paul and Paddy and daughter Judy, were with her when she died, the statement said. Strangely, there was nothing personal from Rupert and, in the case of Anna, they didn't reveal which members of the family were with her when she passed.
Barry Humphries, April 2023 - see SMH
“In whatever guise, Barry was a genuine genius. His works, his creations, his spirit will echo across the generations and his friendship is eternal.”
Barry attended Rupert's 2016 marriage to Jerry Hall in England.
Anne Kantor
Rupert Murdoch said nothing publicly when his most left leaning sister passed in September 2022, although Lachlan Murdoch did attend the memorial service at The Malthouse Theatre, as was noted in this AFR piece at the time.
Larry Lamb
As editor of The Sun in 1969 Sir Larry oversaw the newspaper's transition from a flagging broadsheet to a racy tabloid, renowned for its punning headlines, jingoism and topless models. After a 12 year run at News Corp in the UK and Australian, including two years editing The Australian, Lamb finished his career editing the rival British tabloid, the Daily Express, from 1983 until 1986. Despite this, Rupert paid public tribute when he passed in May 2000, saying: "Larry Lamb towered above the editors of his generation," said Mr Murdoch, chairman of the newspaper's owners News Corporation. "He had an unerring instinct for the political and popular tastes of the day. Through the pages of The Sun, he helped reinvent popular journalism."
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch
Rupert flew to Melbourne and spoke fondly about his mother at the State Memorial service held at St Pauls Cathedral in December 2012. Listen to the ABC's World Today program. Some of the key quotes included calling her a "great lady, wife, mother and citizen". He added, "We have lost the most wonderful mother but we are all grateful to have had her love and wisdom for so many years."
Kerry Packer
He died on Boxing Day in 2005 and the tributes were flowing the very next day, led by a generous Rupert Murdoch who put out a personal statement saying: "He was the most successful businessman of our generation. He was a man who you could truly say was larger than life. A fierce competitor who was sometimes controversial but at the same time capable of great generosity to people and organisations in need. Australia will not be the same without him."
Margaret Thatcher
Rupert penned a personal tribute in The Times of London when Margaret Thatcher died in April 2013, as The Guardian noted at the time: "I found her attitude an inspiration to my business life – and never more so than when faced with the recalcitrance of the print unions in the 1980s," he wrote. "At that time I would regularly be summoned to meetings of the Newspaper Publishers Association to deal with the unions' latest demands. Everyone would sit around the table and agree to stand firm and by the time they'd got back to their desks, they had given in. It was hopeless," he added. "She ended a culture of crippling strikes, she encouraged entrepreneurs to come here and set up their businesses," he added. "Thanks to her I have experienced in Britain many of my defining moments as a businessman."
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