American billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Fox completes $22 billion Roku takeover

American billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp. has completed its $22 billion takeover of Roku Inc., giving the family-controlled broadcaster one of the most widely used TV streaming platforms in the U.S. and bringing the deal to a close months earlier than planned.

Fox said on Friday, Nov. 6, that the acquisition had closed. The company announced the deal on June 15 and at the time said it expected to complete it in the first half of 2027.

Under the terms agreed in June, Roku shareholders receive $160 a share, made up of $96 in cash and about 0.97 of a Fox Class A share for each Roku share. The price was a 33.7% premium to Roku's closing price on the Thursday before reports emerged that the company was exploring a sale. Fox is paying about $14.6 billion in cash, with the rest in stock, and took on about $8.3 billion of new debt to fund the purchase. Fox shareholders own about 73% of the combined company and former Roku shareholders about 27%.

Wood joins the Fox board

Roku founder Anthony Wood, who started the company more than two decades ago and ran it as chairman and chief executive, joins Fox's board. He will also co-chair a new division called FOX Digital Platforms, which brings together Roku, the free streaming service Tubi, the FOX One subscription service and the digital media company Red Seat Ventures. Paul Cheesbrough, a longtime Fox technology executive, becomes the division's co-chair and chief executive.

"We started Roku more than two decades ago to give people a better way to watch TV," Wood said.

Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert's eldest son and Fox's executive chair and chief executive, said the closing "advances the long-term strategy of FOX." He said "our top priority for the combined company is to continue to relentlessly serve audiences and partners," while "reinforcing the openness and choice that is the essence of the Roku platform."

What Fox is buying

Roku's operating system and devices reach more than 100 million households, and the company also owns the Roku Channel, a free, ad-supported streaming service. Combined with Tubi, Fox now controls two of the largest free streaming services in the U.S., alongside its broadcast network, Fox News and Fox Sports.

Fox expects about $400 million a year in cost savings within two years of closing, along with extra revenue from selling advertising across Roku's platform. It has said the deal will add to free cash flow per share by the second full year after closing, and that it will keep an investment-grade credit rating while continuing share buybacks and dividends.

The purchase is the largest in Fox's history and marks a return to the entertainment business for the Murdochs. In 2019 the family sold most of 21st Century Fox, including its film studio and cable entertainment channels, to Walt Disney Co. for $71 billion, keeping the broadcast network, news and sports assets that became Fox Corp.

The deal closed as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress in January after sweeping Tuesday's midterm elections. Several Democrats have said they plan to examine media and technology mergers approved under President Donald Trump's administration.

Rupert Murdoch, 95, built his empire from a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, into a group that includes Fox Corp. and News Corp., owner of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and The Times of London. He became a U.S. citizen in 1985 and is chairman emeritus of both companies. Lachlan Murdoch took control of the family trust that holds the family's voting stakes in Fox and News Corp. after his siblings Prudence, Elisabeth and James agreed in September 2025 to sell their interests.