On Monday, the stock price of Fox News took a significant hit as the network announced the resignation of Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular prime-time personality, who had been attracting an average of more than 3 million viewers per night.
(How much time was left on his contract, if any, and whether or not Fox will provide severance is unknown.)
Fox Corporation stock dropped from $34 to under $32 by lunchtime on Monday, a drop of roughly 5.4 percent; the price recovered significantly by the close of trading, falling by only 2.9 percent.
Tucker Carlson Tonight, hosted by Carlson, used to be the crown jewel of the Fox News evening programming lineup, but he has recently found himself in deeper trouble than usual due to problems involving the Dominion defamation claims and his statements about the January 6 riots.
When the news of Carlson’s dismissal was made public, the stock price dropped 4%, wiping $500 million off the company’s market worth.
Because of the mystery surrounding his departure, the thousands of pages of documents Dominion gave in preparation for jury selection have focused attention on his statements in depositions, emails, and texts.
Fox attorneys and company founder Rupert Murdoch used Carlson to defend the firm, even though his communications criticized the news division and management, expressed his feelings about Donald Trump, and showed his disbelief of the election lies.
His annual pay was reported to be $10 million by CNN’s Brian Stelter in 2020.
Carlson did not hint at Friday’s broadcast being his last appearance on the show. His firing blindsided him, and he could not farewell his loyal fans, who lined Murdoch’s pockets for many years.
Rumble is a conservative video platform financed by Digital World Acquisition Corp., and the billionaire Peter Thiel– a special-purpose acquisition business combined with Trump Media– has seen an increase in share purchases as Fox stock has fallen.
Digital World shares increased by 2.9%, while Rumble shares increased by 6%.
