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Billionaire Lachlan Murdoch Buys 68-Year-Old Superyacht

When your superyacht's also your tinnie...

Image Credit: Boat International/Guillaume Plisson

Lachlan Murdoch, heir to the Murdoch media empire, has reportedly purchased a fully refurbished, 43-metre long yacht for a cool $30 million ($22.5 million USD). 

The freshly re-done 1954 motor yacht, Istros , was sold over a month ago. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that their sources say Istros will be motoring into Sydney Harbour in the near future, where it will be docked nearby the Murdoch’s $100 million ($75 million USD) Bellevue Hill Estate called Le Manoir. 

News of the sale comes as Murdoch awaits the delivery of his 60-metre, $150 million sailing yacht which is still under construction at the Royal Huisman Shipyard in Amsterdam — which means that the Istros is essentially the Murdoch family’s very, very expensive ‘tinnie.’ 

The delicately refurbished 68-year-old ‘tinnie’ comes with 5 staterooms that can accommodate up to 10 guests, state of the art satellite TV technology as well as a fully stocked private bar and lounge area on the top deck. That’s quite the cruise-about.

The two new ships will pair extremely well with the family’s new Point Piper ‘boat shed,’ which Lachlan and his wife Sarah Murdoch reportedly paid a staggering $37 million for, granting it the official title of “ Australia’s most expensive boat shed .”

When the family relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney over a year ago, there was no certainty around how long they would be living in Australia, however The Sydney Morning Herald has now officially confirmed that the Murdochs have officially settled down in Australia, claiming that the election of Democratic President Joe Biden was a major factor behind the move. 

Lachlan Murdoch will maintain his position as the Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, a conservative media outlet in the United States. The move probably won’t bother Lachlan too much, as he continues to jet back and forth between the US on his $90 million private jet.  

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An $11 million yacht formerly owned by Rupert Murdoch is being sold by Italy's most controversial Prime Minister - see inside 'Morning Glory'

Tim levin   .

Burgess Yachts

Morning Glory.

• A 158-foot sailing superyacht owned by Silvio Berlusconi - the highly controversial former Prime Minister of Italy - is for sale for $11 million.
• The yacht is called Morning Glory, and was originally commissioned and owned by Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who built the Fox empire.
• Morning Glory has room for eight passengers and eight crew members, a marble fireplace, multiple dining rooms, a vast master suite, and a full bar.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

If you've got a spare eight figures sitting around, there's something on the market that fits right in your budget: Silvio Berlusconi's 158-foot sailing yacht, which is yours for a cool $11 million.

Of course, most things on the market fit right in your budget. This one just happens to emphasize sailing.

The multimillion-dollar vessel, which is listed for sale through Burgess Yachts and was brought to our attention by Robb Report , has pretty much everything you'd expect from a massive - and massively expensive - superyacht. It's decked out in warm wood, has an operational marble fireplace, sports several lounging and dining areas, and sleeps up to eight guests.

Plus, it's got quite the provenance. Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire businessman behind the Fox empire, had Morning Glory built in 1993. He married his third wife Wendi Deng aboard it in 1999 , according to Robb Report, and sold the yacht to the controversial Italian businessman and former Prime Minister later that year.

Take a look inside Morning Glory:

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Murdoch's superyacht 'Sarissa' arrives

Dutch carbon-fibre performance sloop with cockpit swimming pool.

Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch’s stunning new carbon-fibre superyacht Sarissa has arrived in Sydney in time for summer. Designed by Bill Tripp and built by Dutch yard Vitters, the cutting-edge yacht was two years in the making and is the largest carbon-fibre sloop built to date in the Netherlands.

Vitters Shipyard's website describes  Sarissa as a spectacular 42.6 m carbon globetrotter and performance sloop with a fully modern hull shape, sail plan, and foils. 

Hydraulic sailing and deck systems are said to provide improved reaction speed, load and stiffness to safely facilitate the sailing performance this modern and technical yacht was designed for.

Other custom technical features are an in-house developed hydraulic steering system with rudder feedback, as well as a unique system of back stays and running stays to operate both her cruising and racing sail configurations. The yacht has a lifting keel.

The mainsheet has been placed on an arch spanning the cockpit to keep the deck clear, while the aft cockpit can be transformed into a swimming pool for the kids.

Sarissa's design was guided by close client input and involvement, says Vitters, adding that the yacht will be used to sail all over the world with the family in tow and will take part in the established superyacht regattas.

The layout and deck plan emphasise a clean and modern look, while the family friendly layout below decks boasts a full-beam after stateroom, three guests cabins and three crew cabins.

The stunning interior is by Rhoades Young Design Ltd using a combination of limed oak, dark Italian walnut, Indian rosewood, carbon, dark leather and brushed stainless steel.

Finished in swordfish blue Alexseal paint, with a Ribling 555 tender in the 'garage', the 163 tonne Sarissa has a 56m carbon mast and will be hard to miss moored at Wooloomooloo in Sydney’s CBD.

Meantime, father Rupert reportedly listed his 184ft yacht Rosehearty , built by Perini Navi in Italy in 2006, for sale in September this year for $29.7 million. This followed his divorce from wife Wendi Deng.

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Rupert Murdoch’s Former Superyacht Sailboat Is Up for Sale

The stunning superyacht is being sold by Silvio Berlusconi, ex-prime minister of Italy.

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In a time when millions of people including the rich and famous find themselves cooped up waiting out the coronavirus pandemic, it’s easy to dream of getting away from it all. A 158-foot superyacht with one hell of a legacy is for sale now for anyone well-heeled enough to spring for it. 

The Morning Glory is being sold by one-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who purchased it from Fox media tycoon Rupert Murdoch in 1999.

It’s got a pleasingly old-fashioned look but Murdoch commissioned the Glory in 1993 and even got married on board a few years later before selling it to Berlusconi for just over $7 million.

According to Robb Report, Berlusconi has made multiple upgrades, updating the diesel engines as well as the generators and the boat was rebuilt entirely just three years ago, the rigging refitted and the trim repainted a striking aquamarine.

Additional amenities include luxury dining inside and out, large lounge areas, and a huge master suite. Total capacity is sixteen people—eight guests and eight crew.

Berlusconi is a billionaire, ranked among the top 200 wealthiest people on Earth, so he could afford a few of these. He’s selling the Morning Glory through  Burgess Yachts , list price $11 million USD.

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The award-winning sailing superyacht Vertigo

When the 18th century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned his famous account of Kubla Khan's stately pleasure dome, he was said to have been inspired by an opium-fuelled dream and was annoyed that distractions prevented him from fully transcribing the experience. With its dramatically arched coachroof, the 67.2 metre Vertigo could be said to resemble a 21st century 'pleasure dome', but, unlike Coleridge's masterpiece, it is the product of some very clear thinking and no distractions at all.

Designer Philippe Briand, who discussed the design of Vertigo in detail , did the first concept drawings in 2004, initial discussions with Alloy Yachts took place the following year and the project began to gain serious momentum in 2007. Construction of the striking ketch began in 2009, and more than 800,000 man-hours later she was launched in 2011.

It is both the yard's and the designer's biggest project to date. At 837 gross tonnes, this is the first time Alloy Yachts has ventured over 500 gross tonnes, with the added classification burdens that come when that frontier is crossed.

Vertigo won her share of accolades when she appeared on the scene, winning Sailing Yacht of the Year in the 2012 World Superyacht Awards. She was also named sailing yacht of the year at ISS awards and was named Best in Show at the Monaco Yacht Show .

Built for extended cruising by a European couple with young children, Vertigo combines six-star luxury accommodation with serious performance and plenty of energy-sapping sporting equipment to keep guests of all ages fit and entertained anywhere in the world. Vertigo is also available for charter .

With a reputation for sleek, low-profile contemporary designs, Briand's lines and proportions are superbly balanced. The superstructure is a sculpted dome arcing across the space between the two masts, with the line of the flybridge extending aft to a tapered point like a speed blur. Supported by delicate mullions, the whole superstructure appears to float on glass. Painted in Alexseal metallic silver over the jet black hull, the dome's sense of weightlessness is emphasised. The total effect is of a low-slung profile, streamlined, aerodynamic, powerful.

Internal aesthetics, functionality and comfort were entrusted to the renowned French design house of Christian Liaigre the first time he has undertaken a superyacht project from the outset.

The task of executing all the elements, finding engineering solutions and translating the dream into reality fell to the yard, while the rig and sail programmes were handled by Southern Spars and North Sails, respectively.

Towering above deck, the nearly equal length carbon-fibre masts (67.9 metres and 62.4 metres) support a 5,037 square metre sailplan to maximise performance. Constrained by a draught limit of 5.05 metres, the underwater profile comprises a fin keel with a daggerboard that projects down through the keel and increases the draught to 9.1 metres.

As a sailing command centre, the flybridge ensures outstanding visibility all round. For docking manoeuvres, bow and stern thruster and throttle controls are tucked discreetly into the outermost edges of the helm stations to give the helmsman unrestricted views forward and aft. The twin helm stations are neatly laid out with pushbutton sail controls commanding no fewer than 16 captive winches, custom built by Alloy Yachts.

Most yachts of this size would resort to firing up the twin engines and motoring when the breeze drops much below 10 knots. However, with this sail area and the attention paid to creating a performance-oriented hull, a gentle breeze translates into a 12 to 14 knot reach with all sails flying ensuring a glorious experience for everyone.

In tropical climates and gentle to moderate breezes, the flybridge is a superb area, with twin helm stations forward, large sunbeds aft, curved settees around the sides and a central table and chairs. Immediate catering needs are met with a portside barbecue and starboardside fridge, icemaker and sink.

Protection from the elements is ensured by a clever glass wind shield that rises from the back of the aft-facing settee at the table. Further protection is afforded by a dodger that lifts up and over the helm stations, while two bimini covers can also be erected. With one bimini deployed, it can be slid forward or back to provide shade exactly where you want it, while allowing the sunlovers to bask. With both up at once, the entire seating area is shaded.

The aft cockpit is a great refuge in all weathers. The environment can be controlled by side windows sliding up and down, a rear curtain that pulls up out of the spa-pool surround and connects with the trailing edge of the flybridge overhang, and with a pair of louvres set into the roof that open and shut at the touch of a button.

For Vertigo's  interior, the brief was distilled to three words: Urban at Sea. The owner had seen some of Liaigre's commercial work in New York hotels and on Rupert Murdoch's 56 metre Pe rini Navi R o sehearty, and was impressed by the look. Briand's close relationship with the interior designer was helpful in bringing Liaigre's studio into the project from the outset, as opposed to furnishing and styling existing spaces. The result was an 'amazing collaboration' between the design studio and the yard as they negotiated around structural issues to achieve the overall result.

Glimpses of the full longitudinal expanse are afforded with sightlines running all the way from the twin cockpit entrances aft to the raked windscreen enclosing the wheelhouse forward. The degree of separation between the various spaces can be orchestrated by glass panels and doors equipped with liquid crystal displays that can be rendered transparent or opaque at the flick of a switch.

Throughout the interior, the furnishing and finishes are spare and simple. The treatment is notable for its lack of artwork apart from two small sculptures in strategically placed alcoves. 'The boat speaks for itself,' says project manager Andrew Senn. 'We appreciate the effort and work that has gone into creating an interior of this quality. Why hide it behind a piece of art when the boat itself is a piece of art?'

A piece of art, yet one that must function efficiently at sea in all conditions and serve a wide range of purposes.

For those who want more action than a snooze on the sofa, there are plenty of more energetic entertainments on offer. For exploring, there is the limousine tender in the aft garage and two other six metre tenders in the forward garage, plus sailing dinghies, kayaks and so on.

In addition, the midships sections of the hull open up on both sides to create additional boarding platforms and 'beaches' for all kinds of water-borne activities diving, snorkelling, water-skiing, boardsailing or swimming. This midships lazarette has been dubbed the 'midarette'

'Effectively, the whole idea is that this is like a watersports club,' says Senn. 'Guests can come down here and choose any of the toys on the racks.' Opposite the watersports club is the gymnasium, where guests can work up a sweat and an appetite, with the water lapping alongside and fresh air blowing through.

Through her size and looks alone, Vertigo will always be a head-turner. But she is much more than that. The collaboration between owner, designers and yard has created an exceptional superyacht, exuding outstanding quality in every detail of her construction. As a vehicle for experiences and adventure, Vertigo is exceptionally well equipped in every sense, a stately pleasure dome worthy of Kubla Khan's approval.

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How a Murdoch sailed off with Maxwell's yacht: For years the press titans battled for supremacy and now Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife has bought and refitted Robert Maxwell's boat Lady Ghislaine - named after his disgraced daughter and scene of his death

• Disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell owned Lady Ghislaine superyacht
• He fell overboard in the Atlantic 1991 with his empire on the brink of collapse 
• Lady Ghislaine fell into Rupert Murdoch's family's possession - Maxwell's rival
• The yacht is now named Dancing Hare and owned by Murdoch's ex-wife Anna 

By Paul Bracchi for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:01 EDT, 12 February 2021 | Updated: 00:31 EDT, 13 February 2021

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The Dancing Hare, a 189 ft superyacht, is currently moored in Auckland after traversing the South Pacific and Caribbean Sea.

As displays of conspicuous wealth go, she certainly takes some beating with glass panels encircling the deck, wraparound glass railings, and accommodation for 12 guests — and up to 15 staff — in a master suite, four doubles and a twin stateroom.

The price? £11.8 million; at least that was the asking price when this behemoth was purchased in 2017.

The Dancing Hare, a 189 ft superyacht, is currently moored in Auckland after traversing the South Pacific and Caribbean Sea

Since then, Dancing Hare, flying under the flag of the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific, where she is officially registered, has been spotted sailing around the Galapagos Islands, St Lucia, Fiji, Tonga, and Bora Bora in French Polynesia. 

Those on board, according to online video diaries chronicling the cruiser's progress, enjoyed everything 'from diving adventures with sharks and turtles' to watching 'dolphins swimming off their bow'.

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Yet few outside the boating world will be aware that the white and orange striped flag fluttering in the ocean breeze belonged, in a previous life 30 years ago, to one of the most famous — or rather infamous — yachts in the world.

Back then it had a very different name. It was called the Lady Ghislaine and the owner was disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell.

On the evening of November 5, 1991, with his empire, including the Daily Mirror, on the brink of collapse, Maxwell's naked 22 st body was found floating in the Atlantic off the Canaries, having fallen overboard from the stern of his yacht earlier in the day.

The Lady Ghislaine was owned by disgraced newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell and named after his daughter

It soon became apparent that Maxwell, who was 68, was not only bankrupt (about £1 billion) but had also pilfered millions from the Mirror's pension fund.

Many believe his bitter rivalry with fellow media tycoon Rupert Murdoch was to blame for his downfall which 'unhinged him' and drove him to cripplingly over-extend himself.

But Maxwell must be turning in his grave for another reason.

For, three decades on, the Lady Ghislaine, Maxwell's pride and joy which he christened after his favourite daughter, Ghislaine — herself mired in controversy and awaiting trial in New York on charges, which she denies, of trafficking underage girls with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein — has fallen into the hands of the Murdoch family after changing hands several times down the years.

The irony is beyond parody.

The latest owner of the twice-renamed, refurbished Lady Ghislaine (which was first renamed Lady Mona K before her current moniker of Dancing Hare) is none other than Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife Anna, a new biography of Robert Maxwell reveals.

Scots-born Anna, 76, is the mother of three of Murdoch's children, Elisabeth, 52, Lachlan, 49, and James, 48, who have all played prominent roles in their father's media conglomerate.

On the evening of November 5, 1991, with his empire, including the Daily Mirror, on the brink of collapse, Maxwell's naked 22 st body was found floating in the Atlantic off the Canaries (pictured on the boat in 1990)

Why, though, of all the yachts, in all the world, would the former Mrs Murdoch — now Anna Murdoch Mann dePeyster, having twice remarried since divorcing Murdoch in 1998 — have chosen to buy this particular yacht? Author John Preston offers the following explanation in the very final paragraph of his book, Fall: The Mystery Of Robert Maxwell, which features a photograph of the Lady Ghislaine on the front cover.

He writes: 'In 2017, Rupert Murdoch's former wife Anna decided that she wanted to buy a yacht. Their son James, a keen sailor, offered to help. A few weeks later, he found just what he was looking for — a boat called the Lady Mona K, on the market for $14.5 million [more than £11 million at the time]. His mother went to have a look and liked what she saw.

'It was only after buying the Lady Mona K that Anna learned the yacht's name had been changed years earlier. It had previously been called the Lady Ghislaine.'

But The Times, one of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, knew about the yacht's history, reporting shortly before the former Mrs Murdoch bought it from a Saudi Arabian lawyer, that the Lady Mona K was on the market and was in fact the Lady Ghislaine 'with a refurbished guard rail'.

This was an open secret in yachting circles.

The latest owner of the twice-renamed, refurbished Lady Ghislaine is none other than Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife Anna (pictured)

So would it be beyond the realms of possibility to suggest there could have been more to the acquisition than meets the eye?

That acquiring the old enemy's once prized possession might have provided an unexpected incentive for the wider Murdoch clan, a kind of posthumous schadenfreude?

The Murdochs would be only human if they had. After all, their rivalry was the stuff of legend.

Anna and Rupert Murdoch were together for more than three decades, during which time Maxwell played the role of the pantomime villain, a Trumpian figure whose clashes with Murdoch, inside and outside the boardroom, dominated the 1980s and spilled over into bitter personal animosity.

The feud was even turned into a Jeffrey Archer page turner (The Fourth Estate), a thinly disguised account of the lives of the two tycoons. Anna had a ringside seat to the rivalry. It began in 1968 when Maxwell moved to buy the News Of The World but lost out to Murdoch — 'an Aussie upstart' — who was looking to crack the UK market.

'Never has a man caught a bigger whale with a smaller hook,' Maxwell said later, alluding to the fact that he felt Murdoch underpaid for the title, a deal which proved enormously profitable for him.

Many believe Maxwell's (left) bitter rivalry with fellow media tycoon Rupert Murdoch (right) was to blame for his downfall

Murdoch would also outbid Maxwell for The Sun the following year and The Times and The Sunday Times in 1981.

When Maxwell finally bought Mirror Group Newspapers in 1984, his Daily Mirror slugged it out with Murdoch's Sun, which culminated in a circulation war waged, to quote one colourful account from those times, 'with bingo giveaways, bare-breasted pin-up girls and screaming headlines'.

In New York, they also owned rival tabloids. Maxwell had the Daily News and Murdoch owned the New York Post.

However, Maxwell's spending spree in America, including paying $2.6 billion for publishing house Macmillan U.S., precisely because he was desperate to go toe-to-toe with Murdoch across the pond, left him heavily in hock to the banks — money he could not repay when profits fell, interest rates soared and recession loomed.

This was the background to his last fateful voyage on the Lady Ghislaine.

Just before 5am on November 5, 1991, Maxwell phoned the crew to complain that his cabin was too cold. The air conditioning was turned off. Sometime afterwards, he walked naked to the stern of the boat, probably to urinate, as he was prone to do. He was never seen alive again.

At about 6am, Kevin Maxwell rang his father. They were due to meet the Governor of the Bank of England in London, where they would have been grilled about the state of their business which left a multi-million-pound hole in the Mirror Group pension pot.

Maxwell did not reply. Around 12 hours later, a helicopter pilot with the Spanish national rescue service spotted the body of a man on his back, spreadeagled.

Was his death an accident? Did he jump? Was he pushed? The first scenario is most likely, but we shall never know for sure.

The Lady Ghislaine was placed in the hands of administrators and purchased, it is believed, for around £10 million by the aforementioned Saudi Arabian who reportedly sold the boat, by now renamed as the Lady Mona K, to Anna Murdoch three years ago.

The yacht, to borrow the description of one commentator, was a 'four-storey, floating symbol' of the brash, self-aggrandising attention-seeking Robert Maxwell himself.

It had a gymnasium and discotheque with decor which was '1970s Playboy Baroque' and where guests wore bootees to keep the deep-pile cream carpets clean. The former Mrs Murdoch, who now lives in Florida with her third husband, property developer Ashton dePeyster, 74, must have gained considerable satisfaction giving her acquisition the 'sophisticated' refurbishment referred to in the sailing press.

The entire interior design was replaced by London-based designer Olivia Outred and the yacht spent seven months at the Balk Shipyard in Amsterdam getting a state-of-the art overhaul.

Nevertheless, the new owner — who is understood to have received a $100 million (more than £70 million) divorce settlement from her first husband — has kept a low profile.

She has not advertised her links with Dancing Hare, which was relaunched in May 2018 with a baptism by a priest and a christening by the captain.

The owners are listed as Moonstone Enterprises, incorporated in Delaware in the U.S. where state laws mean individuals behind such companies can remain anonymous. Monaco-based KK Superyachts, which brokered the purchase of the yacht, are the commercial managers.

At the time of writing, neither KK Superyachts or Anna Murdoch Mann dePeyster wished to comment.

But why settle on the name Dancing Hare?

One of Anna Murdoch Mann dePeyster's favourite artists is the late figurative sculptor Barry Flanagan who was renowned for his bronze statues of hares which were exhibited in Europe and the U.S.

One such statue was called Dancing Hare. A symbol of everything the Lady Ghislaine was not.

• Additional reporting: Tim Stewart

Share or comment on this article: How a Murdoch sailed off with Robert Maxwell's superyacht Lady Ghislaine - named after his daughter

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An $11 million yacht formerly owned by Rupert Murdoch is being sold by Italy's most controversial Prime Minister — see inside 'Morning Glory'

• A 158-foot sailing superyacht owned by Silvio Berlusconi — the highly controversial former Prime Minister of Italy — is for sale for $11 million. 
• The yacht is called Morning Glory, and was originally commissioned and owned by Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who built the Fox empire. 
• Morning Glory has room for eight passengers and eight crew members, a marble fireplace, multiple dining rooms, a vast master suite, and a full bar.  
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

If you've got a spare eight figures sitting around, there's something on the market that fits right in your budget: Silvio Berlusconi's 158-foot sailing yacht, which is yours for a cool $11 million. 

Of course, most things on the market fit right in your budget. This one just happens to emphasize sailing.

The multimillion-dollar vessel, which is listed for sale through Burgess Yachts and was brought to our attention by Robb Report , has pretty much everything you'd expect from a massive — and massively expensive — superyacht. It's decked out in warm wood, has an operational marble fireplace, sports several lounging and dining areas, and sleeps up to eight guests. 

Plus, it's got quite the provenance. Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire businessman behind the Fox empire, had Morning Glory built in 1993. He married his third wife Wendi Deng aboard it in 1999 , according to Robb Report, and sold the yacht to the controversial Italian businessman and former Prime Minister later that year. 

Take a look inside Morning Glory:

Morning Glory, a 158-foot sailing yacht owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, just hit the market with an asking price of $11 million.

The massive yacht was commissioned in 1993 by Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul behind the Fox Corporation and News Corp.

Berlusconi, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $5.9 billion, reportedly bought the yacht from Murdoch in 1999 for $7.2 million, according to Robb Report.

Source: Robb Report , Forbes

As expected, there's a plethora of different lounging areas to choose from.

There's an L-shaped couch up on the flybridge ...

... by the covered captain's station.

There's also full dining area on the deck ...

And once you get tired of that, you can move to a semi-circular seating area for your after-dinner digestifs.

Climb some stairs and you've reached the "raised sun lounge," perfect for getting some rays while you think about dividends.

Inside, there's a large, U-shaped seating area facing a marble fireplace. There's also a TV for watching videos of your yacht while you're on your yacht.

Off of the "main saloon" there's a room with a formal dining area...

Along with a full bar and game table.

Morning Glory can sleep up to eight guests in four lavishly-appointed suites.

Some rooms have double beds ...

... and others have twins.

The master suite, which spans the full width of the ship, sports a study as well as couples' bathrooms.

Morning Glory also has room to sleep eight crew members.

If you're looking to hole up in a luxurious superyacht for the foreseeable future, you can snatch up Morning Glory or another multimillion-dollar vessel through Burgess Yachts.

• Main content

Tucker Carlson returns to Fox News 15 months after his firing—with a GOP convention speech

Tucker Carlson returned to Fox News’ airwaves 15 months after  being unceremoniously fired , seen Thursday in its coverage of a Republican National Convention speech that highlighted his growing influence in Donald Trump’s world.

Carlson called the Republican nominee to return as president a changed man who effectively “became the leader of this nation” following last Saturday’s  assassination attempt .

His 11-minute speech in Milwaukee also highlighted changes in the media personality, who had said privately following the 2020 election that he  “truly can’t wait”  to ignore Trump. Before being given the prime-time role on the convention’s climactic night, he’d been seen throughout the convention and reportedly lobbied Trump to select Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.

Fox News aired Carlson’s speech in prime time, during the same hour he had once ruled as cable television news’ most popular personality. CNN and MSNBC did not carry it.

“That was Tucker Carlson,” his Fox replacement, Jesse Watters, said. “You may remember him from the 8 o’clock hour here.”

How Carlson has fared in recent months

Carlson was fired a week after Fox agreed to pay more than $787 million  to settle a lawsuit  with Dominion Voting Systems over false statements the network made about the company following the 2020 election. The network never explained why it ousted Carlson, sparking a cottage industry of theories about why the Rupert Murdoch-founded network pulled the plug.

Since then, Carlson started his own online network but hasn’t approached the influence that five nights a week on the most popular cable network afforded him.

He has released a series of online interviews with figures popular in the conservative movement, including one with Trump that was  posted to counterprogram  a debate between his GOP nomination opponents. His most newsworthy foray was a February  interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin , who said later that he thought Carlson “would behave more aggressively and ask so-called sharp questions.”

Carlson has also made money through a series of speeches, and recently completed a speaking tour of Australia. He has booked a September tour of arenas in the United States, each night joined by a special guest that will include Donald Trump Jr., Roseanne Barr, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Russell Brand, Kid Rock, Vivek Ramaswamy and a trio of personalities who also left Fox under unpleasant circumstances —  Megyn Kelly ,  Glenn Beck  and  Dan Bongino .

Rehearsal? Not on this night

His convention speech on Thursday was ad-libbed, according to Justin Wells, a longtime Carlson adviser who spoke to him shortly before Carlson went onstage.

Carlson extolled Trump as a leader whose bravery and courage has inspired people — particularly in the days after the assassination attempt the former president survived in western Pennsylvania last weekend. He also credited Trump for fostering unity at a moment when it would have been easy to do otherwise.

“He turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to inflame the nation after being shot,” Carlson said. “In the moment, he did his best to bring the country together.”

He said that “people who don’t believe in God are starting to wonder — maybe there is something to this.”

Carlson kept divisive political talk to a minimum, although he called the amount of money the U.S. has spent to help defend Ukraine “a middle finger in the face of every American.”

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