Rupert Murdoch has abandoned his bid to reunite the two halves of his media empire.
Facing resistance among leading investors, the 91-year-old mogul and his son Lachlan on Tuesday notified the respective boards of Fox Corp. and News Corp. that the family was withdrawing its earlier request to explore a combination of the two companies. Such a merger would have brought Fox News and the Wall Street Journal under the same corporate roof.
A merger also would have consolidated the power of Lachlan Murdoch, currently chief executive of Fox, as he would have managed the combined company.