This post is part of our Money Face-Off feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.
These two moguls run huge media empires with what seems like very personal involvement. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp'B' (NYSE: NWS) is working his family into the picture, sometimes. However, Sumner Redstone, Chairman of Viacom (NYSE: VIA), is working his family out, always. He seems to have a trap door at the top of his empire, like a haunted house, or a not so fun-house. You work your way to the top and then a trap doors opens in the floor dropping you out.
Rupert seems to have a plan (see, Rupert Murdoch & Homer Simpson are winners -- look for sequels). Sumner seems to have a scheme as he is wheeling and dealing to improve the state of his vast holdings and taking no prisoners. But from all I have read, the company is treading water, having a success here and there, and then you get little things like Viacom's MTV, Nickelodeon facing challenges.
Some of these challenges might be easier to deal with if there was a clear plan. Murdoch seems to have an overall plan: conquer global media. That is another difference to me. I perceive Redstone as a bicoastal mogul who has managed to integrate himself into the worlds of Wall Street and Hollywood with great skill and fortitude for decades.
Rupert Murdoch on the other hand has had a global perspective from day one. Yes, he owns Hollywood properties like Fox Studios and Wall Street properties, just swallowed a big one as previously stated, but he is European and he is Australian, and in some respects he is Chinese ... and he is not done -- keep watching. I sense there is much more to come.
Read Chasing Value or Serious Money to find potential opportunities, and to verify my track record, as well.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He is on the advisory board of Internet start-up CircleBuilder.com.
Vote in our poll for Sumner Redstone or Rupert Murdoch, and let us know in the comments why your choice has the financial edge in this match-up. Also be sure to check out our other Money Face-Offs.
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