Rupert Murdoch On MySpace: 'We Screwed Up'

Rupert Murdoch is not a man who likes admitting failure, but the media mogul admitted to a pretty big mistake on Thursday.

Using his Twitter feed, Murdoch addressed News Corp.'s ill-fated purchase of MySpace, the social networking site that he bought for $580 million and sold just six years later for $35 million. Murdoch didn't mince words, either:

@rupertmurdoch
Rupert Murdoch

Many questions and jokes about My Space.simple answer - we screwed up in every way possible, learned lots of valuable expensive lessons.

January 13, 2012 7:05 am via Twitter for iPad Reply Retweet Favorite

Can we expect a similarly blunt assessment of the phone hacking scandal? We'll just have to wait and see.

Also on HuffPost:

Some of Murdoch's first tweets:

Comments

[jockmama]

06:43 PM on 01/17/2012

Rupert's REAL regret: "We got caught."

[abbadabba]

01:55 PM on 01/16/2012

OMG, someone take that thing away from him! He's making a mockery of himself! Folks are all over his rants about the O adminsitration not backing his heavily promoted suppression bill. No wonder MySpace failed. He doesn't have a freaking clue how the net works!! Jeff Jarvis' take on the mess at the Guardian is hilarious.

Seriously, Murdoch is doing himself more harm than good making a twit of himself.

[SeattleNick]

03:30 PM on 01/15/2012

So come on rupert and bunch more investments like that and you will have nothing to call and empire. Stick to your National Enquirer or better know as fox nuets.

[cyoohoos]

02:42 PM on 01/15/2012

Why would anyone follow this man on Twitter other than reporters

[Beagle Beat]

11:38 AM on 01/15/2012

Rupert Murdoch On MySpace: 'We Screwed Up,I Thought I Would Own Space'

[robert horwitz]

10:29 AM on 01/15/2012

Rupert Murdoch made and makes his living selling Hate. He didn't just simply screw up except for the fact that he got caught. Seen many stories about this on Fox?

[llibsetag]

12:12 AM on 01/15/2012

Old rich criminal dude should be sharing a cell in prison with Bernie Madoff!

[SabeWhat]

06:24 PM on 01/14/2012

1/14/2012 - Today around 5:35pm EST FoxNews, live, refers to MSNBC as a communist channel. Is FoxNews planning to take us back to the McCarthy era? The FoxNews anchor did not dispute the claim being made by the FoxNews paid contributor, she appears frequently on the weekend. All of this came after expressing their displeasure with Pat Buchannan’s absence from MSNBC. At no time did they comment that Pat’s initial absence was due to a medical illness.

And we talk about discourse and civility in America. I would like to see a study examining civility in America since FoxNews began airing. Do you ever visit FoxNation and read the comments?

FoxNews and MSNBC are cable competitors - one expresses opinion from the right side of the political spectrum and the other from the left side of the political spectrum. Their straight news shows/anchors are pretty much central such as Tamaron Hall and Sheppard Smith.

I hope MSNBC does not keep quiet about this. This label is an insult to all members of the MSNBC family - all of their employee’s. It is also an insult to NBC and their parent company. Is FoxNews competing for the title of “Cable News Bully”? Or is it for the award of “Least Civil”?

Should you wish to comment - FOX Report Weekend [e-mail]

[MichaelMcKLA]

02:27 AM on 01/15/2012

The only thing I watch on any Fox Channel is The Simpsons. And they regularly lampoon FNC for its hard-right lunacy.

[schlinky]

09:43 PM on 01/15/2012

you have to forgive Fox News for they have wallowed in selfdelusion for so long, they could not see or report the truth if it sat on them. Bill O Really threatend a caller on his Radio Show with Fox News Police for mention the name of a opposing News Show. I hope the Kid sues Fox Radio

[hmby42]

04:58 PM on 01/14/2012

He ought to be saying the same about Faux NoNews after being denied a broadcasting license in Canada because Faux NoNews Lies and Canada has a National Law for Truth in News. Something the US needs except the Supreme Court says they have the Right to Lie to their Audience especially since they are Retarded enough to believe them

[Tquin]

04:53 PM on 01/14/2012

News Corp stock just hit a 12 month high and guess what........Mrudock wins....Are journalist wannabees just lose.

[Gary Bradski]

01:20 AM on 01/15/2012

My guess is that Fox News will become more moderate over time since the Tea Party market is older and pure white and that demographic isn't where you want to be for ad revenue.

[mmike1969]

03:09 PM on 01/14/2012

What's this 'we' stuff. You are the CEO. It's YOU that messed up.
Of course, I never was into myspace even before this outsider bought it.

[abbadabba]

01:02 PM on 01/14/2012

Nice try, Murdoch, but the screw up we're most interested in is still unwinding in Britian. Man did he screw that one up. That MySpace screw up is old bad news. Too bad he can't come up with any good news to distract the public from watching that great show. It's as good as Downton Abbey! And likely to run for years!! I want to call it "Tea Pot Blown."

Hey, hasn't BSkyB's stock tanked since he took that on, too?

[abbadabba]

12:57 PM on 01/14/2012

Murdoch is the Sun King of expensive lessons. Hacking a competitor's computers, destorying their business with inside info, and then having to buy the busted thing to keep the criminalty under cover of confidentiality agreements cost nearly $30 million dollars in court, not to mention the $50 million the victims felt sure Murdoch had spent to push them out of business.

Murdoch only knows how to degrade things for profit. But don't worry about Murdoch, he got out of MySpace what he put in, and then left it on the floor like graphics. What a great lesson.

[bobbiewick]

11:31 AM on 01/14/2012

Murdoch & Co. also screwed up with TV Guide and Delphi.

[docketeer09]

09:27 AM on 01/14/2012

this man is disgustipating in his "sincerity." glad he learned "valuable" lessons. more tax writeoffs, more money. moh.