James Murdoch, the son of billionaire and Fox Corporation founder Rupert Murdoch, and his wife Kathryn have donated $1.23 million to former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, according to filings.
New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel, citing Federal Election Commission (FEC) receipts, first highlighted James and Kathryn Murdoch gave $615,000 each last month to the Biden Victory Fund, a joint fundraising effort between the Biden campaign, the Democrat National Committee (DNC), and state parties.
Murdoch, previously CEO of 21st Century Fox, is known as a political centrist compared to his more conservative brother, Lachlan Murdoch. Since departing the Fox empire in March, Murdoch launched the investment group Lupa Systems.
Murdoch’s million-dollar donation to the Biden campaign isn’t the first contribution he’s made during the 2020 presidential election. In April, Murdoch gave $2,800 to former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign, the largest amount possible to a primary candidate. Appearing at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment summit in October, Murdoch declared Buttigieg has the “composure, character, thoughtfulness, courage to handle some of the hardest challenges that we have.”
During the same discussion, Murdoch admitted that he no longer watches Fox News and lamented the departure of longtime anchor Shepard Smith, who recently joined CNBC to host a nightly newscast.