默多克的杂牌王国（《财富》经典回顾，1984年）

    1973年，默多克悄然进军美国，首先以1，800万美元的价格，收购了圣安东尼奥市两家勉强盈利的报纸。第二年，他高调创办了《星报》（Star），这是继周报《国家询问报》（National Enquirer）之后，又一份轰动全国的报纸。在此之后，他先后收购了《纽约邮报》；《纽约》杂志（New York）；纽约的一份极左周报《乡村之声》（Village Voice）；以及《波士顿先驱报》（Boston Herald）。

    而在美国之外，他吞并了伦敦的《泰晤士报》，并获得了澳大利亚航空公司安塞特运输工业公司（Ansett Transport Industries）一半的股份。与安塞特的交易充分展示了默多克的狡猾；在四年时间里，该公司仅一半的留存收益和额外红利便已经超过了他1亿美元的收购价格。

    默多克收购的报纸大部分都是勉强盈利或彻底亏损，但他的收购活动并没有表面看起来那么鲁莽。大多数情况下，他所挑选的资产，其价值都被疲软的表现所掩盖。为了收购持续亏损的《波士顿先驱报》，他付出了100万美元现金和700万美元未来利润（如果有的话），但实际上这笔交易还包括房产，仅这部分的价值便接近700万美元。

    《泰晤士报》所附带的房产和固定资产价值更是默多克收购价格的两倍。除此之外，《泰晤士报》还带来了更加丰富的资源。通过这份报纸，默多克获得了新闻与金融信息服务公司路透集团公司（Reuters Ltd.）4.6%的股份。一旦公司股东确定利益分配方式，路透集团公司将会上市，届时公司总市值将达到15亿美元甚至更高。4.6%的股份将为默多克带来6，900万美元。默多克还通过其他报纸，持有路透6.4%的股份。或许，他看重的正是这些隐性资产。不过，他坚持认为，路透集团股票所带来的财源“纯粹是走运”。

    之后，新闻集团开始巩固其在澳洲、英国和美国的战果，在两年时间内，公司收益增长了14%，达到14亿美元。但由于这些结果都以美元计算，因此新闻集团的真正收益要高于这个数字。新闻集团的大部分业务都是以澳元和英镑结算，而这两种货币的价值相比美元都出现了下跌。如果按照澳元计算，过去两年，新闻集团的收入增幅高达41%。1982年，不计算与汇率相关的收益与损失，公司的利润仅为43%，而去年则增长了98%。1983财年，公司的利润为6，990万美元。

    去年早些时候，随着新闻集团收益的突然好转，公司的股票也直线攀升。（股票在澳大利亚交易，并在纽约进行柜台交易）。当时有传言称路透集团公司即将上市，因此，新闻集团的股票再度暴涨。而投资华纳公司的消息传出后，公司的股票又出现了新一轮上涨，近期公司的股价达到11.80美元，约为1983年初的五倍。

    尽管公司股票涨势喜人，但新闻集团的利润率和资产回报却一直低于出版公司的一般水平。1983财年，公司的资产回报率为6.4%，而同一时期，美国七大出版公司的平均资产回报率为9.1%。但新闻集团同年的股本回报率却达到惊人的22.4%，远远超过其他七家公司。这是因为默多克举借了惊人数额的债务，以维持所谓的“举债经营”。新闻集团的债务资本比率为0.8，而其他大型出版公司的平均比率仅为0.3。

    Murdoch stole quietly into the U.S. in 1973, buying two marginally profitable papers in San Antonio for $18 million. The next year he splashily launched the Star, a knock-off of the sensational weekly National Enquirer. Then came the acquisitions of the New York Post; New York magazine; the Village Voice, a far-left New York weekly; and the Boston Herald.

    Outside the U.S., he gobbled the Times of London and took his half interest in Ansett Transport Industries, the Australian airline. The Ansett deal showed how crafty Murdoch could be: in four years his half of retained earnings and a special dividend have already exceeded his $100-million purchase price.

    Murdoch's newspaper buys -- mostly marginal profitmakers or outright losers --haven't been quite as reckless as they might appear. In most cases, he picked up assets whose value was masked by dismal performance. He paid $1 million in cash and $7 million in future profits, if any, for the money -- losing Boston Herald, but the deal included real estate worth an estimated $7 million.

    The Times came with real estate and fixed assets worth twice as much as Murdoch's purchase price. But the Times brought a much richer lode. With it Murdoch got 4.6% of Reuters Ltd., the news and financial information service. Reuters probably will go public once its shareholders decide how to divide the spoils, and its total market value could be $1.5 billion or more. The 4.6% could bring Murdoch more than $69 million. Murdoch owns 6.4% of Reuters through his other papers and presumably could have spotted that hidden asset. He insists otherwise, saying that the prospective bonanza from the Reuters shares is "sheer luck."

    In the two years since News Corp. began consolidating results from Australia, Britain, and the U.S., revenues have increased 14% to $1.4 billion. Because these results are stated in U.S. dollars, however, they understate the true gains. Most of News Corp.'s business is conducted in Australian dollars and British pounds, both of which have fallen relative to the U.S. dollar. Measured in Australian dollars, revenues jumped 41% over the last two years. Profits before currency-related gains and losses were down 43% in 1982 and up 98% last year. The fiscal 1983 profits were $69.9 million in U.S. dollars.

    The sharp turnaround in earnings sent News Corp.'s stock rocketing early last year. (The shares trade in Australia and over the counter in New York.) When rumors spread that Reuters would go public, the stock kicked in the afterburners. Nudged up again by the news of the investment in Warner, the shares recently were selling at $11.80, up nearly fivefold since early 1983.

    Despite its impressive growth, News Corp.'s profit margins and return on assets have been below par for a publishing company. Its return on assets was 6.4% in fiscal 1983, vs. an average of 9.1% for the seven largest U.S. publishers in the same period. News Corp.'s return on equity, on the other hand, was a stunning 22.4% in fiscal 1983, higher than any of the seven. That's because Murdoch operates with a phenomenal amount of debt, or gearing, as Australians call it. The debt-to-equity ratio is 0.8, vs. an average 0.3 for the other large publishing companies.