Fox Corporation took a major financial hit upon Monday’s sudden announcement that Fox News and primetime host Tucker Carlson had “parted ways.”
The parent company of Fox News, which also owns branded entertainment and sports entities, saw its stock drop more than 5% in value in the minutes after the unexpected announcement.
According to the Washington Examiner, that decline in stock value is worth more than $1 billion.
Mr. Carlson had been the network’s most popular individual host — only “The Five” bested “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in the ratings last year and sometimes Mr. Carlson’s 8 p.m. show would edge out the 5 p.m. panel program.
There had been no public inkling in recent days that Mr. Carlson would soon be leaving Fox News, and neither the network nor Mr. Carlson had specified the reason for their parting by late Monday afternoon.
The departure comes in the immediate wake of Fox News paying nearly $800 million to settle a defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems for claims made by Mr. Carlson and others about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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