Roger Ailes Made More Money Than Rupert Murdoch Last Year

If you need more proof that Fox News is the only thing keeping Rupert Murdoch’s empire alive, look no further: Foul propagandist Roger Ailes made $US24 million last year—$US2 million more than his boss, foul oligarch Rupert Murdoch.

Business Week tallies Ailes’ stunning take, a big chunk of which comes from his cut of Fox News’ cashflow, which surged 65% to half a billion dollars last year. Murdoch’s bonus, on the other hand, fell 60% because the rest of the company sucks.

That would include Fox Business Channel, Ailes’ stillborn brainchild for taking on CNBC, which cost millions and won’t earn a penny by Fox’s estimation until 2011, which means never. Did Ailes’ bonus take a commensurate hit for the $US49 million Fox Business lost last year? No! He got an additional $US4.4 million in stock, because “the fair market value of the channel ‘reached two times its cost’”. We’re guessing they calculated the fair market value of a money-losing channel that regularly fails to garner enough viewers for Nielsen to accurately measure by asking Mr. Ailes how much money he would like.