July 29, 1996 – The NY Times

For Rupert Murdoch, International Influence Outweighs Wealth
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT

NEW YORK -- It was vintage Rupert Murdoch. On Thursday evening, July 18, Murdoch, the Australian-born Chairman of the News Corp., and the American entrepreneur Ronald Perelman lingered after dinner on the outdoor deck of the investment banker Herbert Allen's home in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Perelman had wanted to sell his company, New World Communications with its 10 television stations, to Murdoch for months, but the two had haggled over price. Now Perelman was playing hardball, threatening a deal to shut out the News Corp. "He had me over a barrel," Murdoch conceded.

And so, dismissing concerns of some of his own executives, on the following Sunday night, Murdoch, back at his ranch in Carmel, Calif., called Perelman on Long Island. By Monday, they had a deal.

Critics said Murdoch would be paying a steep price, $3.4 billion, for stations that already carried his Fox Network. But the deal would make Murdoch the biggest owner of television stations in terms of viewership, reaching 40 percent of the United States, and a true contender with the major networks.