Blood has long been viewed as thicker than water in the Murdoch empire. Every year, News Corp's annual report discloses payments made to ''related parties'', providing a glimpse of what Rupert's wife, sons, daughters and in-laws, earned from the family business.
A former media consultant to presidents Nixon and George Bush snr, Ailes is credited with turning Fox into a highly opinionated, conservative and spectacularly profitable network news channel. In fact the New York Times piece pointed out that Ailes's ''outsized success'' has placed him ''at the pinnacle of power in three corridors of American life: business, media and politics.''