Rupert Murdoch spent a lifetime building a media empire — will he break it up?

Rupert Murdoch is one of the most driven moguls in media, defying the odds for more than a half-century to build a global media empire from a small newspaper in Australia. So many people were startled to learn the 86-year-old tycoon and his sons appear willing to sell some of their prized 21st Century Fox media assets.  Walt Disney Co approached the Murdoch family in recent months to inquire about buying key Fox properties, including the Los Angeles-based movie and television studios, cable TV channels FX and National Geographic, and Fox’s international TV operations. Such a deal would have been unfathomable a few years ago, but rapid shifts in consumer behavior have forced the Murdochs to rethink their strategy, company insiders and industry analysts say. Although talks with Disney have broken down over price, analysts believe other bidders such as Apple, Amazon or Google may emerge.