Saudi Arabian billionaire Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud has announced that he would support James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch and reportedly an outspoken critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, for CEO of News Corporation, the Rupert Murdoch enterprise that includes the Wall Street Journal and Fox Broadcasting Company. Al-Waleed, with a 7 percent stake, is the largest shareholder in News Corporation except for the Murdoch family.
And last fall Rupert Murdoch bought a stake in Al-Waleed's own media conglomerate, Rotana.
Al-Waleed, a graduate of Menlo College and Syracuse University, has invested in many American companies; he is the largest individual shareholder in Citigroup. Nevertheless it might come as a surprise to many Fox News viewers that such a large shareholder in Fox's parent company is a Saudi prince who has often criticized the U.S.'s support for Israel's handling of Palestinian issues.
Al-Waleed made news after 9/11 when he offered $10 million to the city of New York. While in no way condoning the attack, he said then that the U.S. should "re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause." After Rudy Giuliani, then mayor of New York, refused the money, claiming that Al-Waleed was condoning terrorism, the folks at Fox responded with one voice, feeding their right-wing viewers the line they wanted. Said Sean Hannity: "…this is a man that blames the United States and their policies for the attack … That is such an egregious, outrageous, unfair offense that I would have nothing to do with his money either."
Said Mara Liasson, Fox commentator (and political correspondent for National Public Radio): "[I]t was an outrageous statement and the mayor did the right thing and refused the money."
Said Fox News' Washington editor, Bill Sammon: "&this guy is essentially trying to buy legitimacy for his extreme views, which is, you know, that the American policy towards Israel is to blame for this attack on the World Trade Center. … I think it's blood money and we're better off without it."
But that "blood money" is helping pay Fox News pundits' salaries. Some find that amusing; more serious is a question raised by Al-Waleed's support for James Murdoch as future CEO: will an alliance between the two lead to changes in editorial direction at the Murdoch properties, including the Wall Street Journal?"
