In 1953 when he inherited control of two Australian newspapers. Murdoch expanded to Britain in the 1960s, the U.S. in the ’70s, and Asia in the 1990s. In Britain Murdoch owns the biggest tabloid, the Sun, and in the U.S. the New York Post.

“Murdoch appears to be at the height of his powers. He views Dow Jones, along with the recent launch of the Fox Business Network, as steps in the creation of a globe-spanning financial news powerhouse,” notes Tim Arango, a journalist for FORTUNE.

Arango asks, “Can he do it? The breadth of his ambition could be his Achilles heel – the more dominant News Corp. becomes, the more opposition it tends to provoke. Still, Murdoch has proved time and again that counting him out is a high-risk strategy.”

Murdoch was awarded the 2nd most powerful CEO by FORTUNE in 2007 for his position as chairman of News Corp. — the world’s third largest media conglomerate, with a value of $68 billion, and one of the few mega-corporations controlled by a single individual.

Eric Pooley describes Murdoch as living “like an old-fashioned tycoon too, hopscotching the planet on his 737 and recharging on his yacht off St. Tropez. Recent stop: London, where he got thrown from a horse (but didn’t break anything — too busy).” Building a giant media company does have it’s perks, you know?