Rupert Murdoch looked frazzled but defiant. We were having what was supposed to be a friendly coffee, but this was 2006 and he was under siege from bankers who were trying to cope with his financial over-reach.

Thanks to billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s outsize personality, his vast sway within the news industry and his role as a kingmaker in conservative politics, there’s long been heightened interest in his megadeals,