21st Century Fox

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), also known simply as Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, following a spin-off of the publishing assets of the old News Corporation as News Corp. 21st Century Fox was the legal successor to News Corporation dealing primarily in the film and television industries. It was the United States' fourth-largest media conglomerate by revenue, up until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2019. The other company, News Corp, holds Rupert Murdoch's print interests and other media assets in Australia (both owned by him and his family via a family trust with 39% interest in each). Murdoch was co-executive chairman, while his sons Lachlan Murdoch and James Murdoch were co-executive chairman and CEO, respectively. 21st Century Fox's assets included the Fox Entertainment Group—owners of the 20th Century Fox film studio (the company's partial namesake), the Fox television network, and a majority stake in National Geographic Partners—the commercial media arm of the National Geographic Society, among other assets. It also had significant foreign operations, including the prominent Indian television channel operator Star India. The company ranked No. 109 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. On July 27, 2018, 21st Century Fox shareholders agreed to sell the company to Disney for $71.3 billion. The sale covered the majority of 21CF's entertainment assets, including 20th Century Fox, FX Networks, and National Geographic Partners among others. Following a bidding war with 21CF, Sky plc (a British media group which 21CF held a stake in) was acquired separately by Comcast, while 21CF's regional Fox Sports Networks were sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group to comply with antitrust rulings. The remainder, consisting primarily of the Fox and MyNetworkTV networks, and 21CF's local station, news and national sports assets, were spun out into a new company named Fox Corporation, which began trading on March 19, 2019. Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox was closed on March 20 of the same year. After that, all of the included 21CF assets were scattered across the divisions of Disney.