If you are an NBA fan, you will have heard that millionaire Donald Sterling, the current owner of the LA Clippers is in very hot water. He apparently told his mistress to stop bringing black guests to the LA Clippers home games. These racist comments reported on 25th April have been widely condemned, and today he received a lifetime ban from basketball, a 2.5 million dollar fine and was also told to sell his team.
Today I continue to look at the characters and events involved in the UK phone hacking scandal. This time on the hit list is James Murdoch the 4th son of billionaire and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Rupert himself and his company News Corporation.
I have been through the outline of the scandal rocking the UK in previous posts, however the net goes out further than the cessation of the News of the World newspaper and the arrest of the aide of David Cameron. Central to the whole situation is the management of the UK arm of the worldwide media empire owned by Rupert Murdoch through his companies News International and News Corporation, the former of which is run by Rupert’s son, James.
Rupert Murdoch was himself the son of a wealthy Newspaper magnate in Melbourne, Australia. Born in Melbourne on 11th March 1931 at 23.55, Murdoch is an elusive Sun Sign Pisces with a pioneering Sagittarius Moon and a hard nosed Capricorn Ascendant. The Pisces Sun is tightly conjunct to Mercury at the point of a wedge formation with Saturn in Capricorn opposing a Pluto and Jupiter conjunction in Cancer. This is a hugely powerful wedge. Murdoch will see things his way (Sun/Mercury), has huge money making acumen (Pluto/Jupiter) and incredible drive and ambition to run things (Saturn opposite Pluto). He will be stern and uncompromising in his pursuit of success (Saturn in Capricorn in 1st house) and of course with Mercury and the Sun in Pisces, no surprise his business is based around creative media (TV ruled by Neptune) and the press (ruled by Mercury). Murdoch is shrewd and a good strategist, and because Mercury is in Pisces he will “feel” what course of action to take to improve his position. He is private, hard to track down, studious (Sun/Mercury in 4th/ Mercury square Pluto) and very elusive, unless of course he has a desire to meet you. People work around Rupert’s schedule, not the other way around.
The Sun makes a quindecile to Neptune in the international 9th house, so this business is focused on having a wide reach all over the world. Pluto in the 7th will bring Murdoch to have powerful connections and contacts, however friends in high places can also turn into ruthless and nasty enemies if trust is breached. Remember in the stratospheric level that Murdoch networks in, his peers are and can be as ruthless and nasty as he can be. Saturn/Pluto oppositions can bring unimaginable success, but also catastrophic falls from grace when the opposition is activated. This one connects the first and seventh houses, dealings with powerful foes (Pluto in 7th in the house of open enemies) can bring hard lessons to be learned on a personal level (Saturn in 1st). Pluto conjuncts with Mars in the 8th house and this Mars also opposes to Saturn. When Rupert wants something, he will get it, no too ways about it. Through this opposition he will have incredible determination and willpower, but sometimes he will be too rash and impulsive and this will cause a setback. Not that it will deter Murdoch for long, he keeps on going, because he is unable to stop. The reason? He is obsessed by acquiring money and possessions. Venus sits peregrine in the 2nd house of finance. Not aspecting with any other planet, it’s effect will be very strong, especially emanating out of the 2nd. Murdoch’s attitude to women will be hot and cold with Venus in Aquarius, committed one minute then suddenly losing interest. Uranus in the 4th house suggest his home life would be disruptive and it is borne out in the fact that he is already onto his 3rd wife, 42 year old Wendi Deng who is 37 years his junior.
Now, Murdoch has bowed to British public and parliamentary pressure and cancelled his bid by News Corporation to fully buy out British Satellite Broadcaster BSkyB run by his son James who has ben embroiled in the middle of the scandal rocking the British media. How will he react with regard to his son and will he even consider pulling out of the UK media market completely? My feeling is that he will play for time, cutting out anybody who will damage the long term viability of his businesses in the UK rather than pulling out of the market completely. The 8th house of big business and change is not highlighted in the transits or Solar Arc charts, which is something I would expect to see if he was planning this course of action.
Putting the transits of the day against Murdoch’s chart is however interesting and accurately describes the situation Rupert finds himself in. Transiting Saturn is opposing natal Uranus and square to natal Jupiter. Saturn is operating out of the 10th house, so his work practices are being restricted because of family problems (Uranus in 4th house) and these restrictions are being brought about through open enemies, in this case the public and UK Parliament (7th house). Looking at how these restrictions will manifest themselves, Capricorn (Saturn) sits on the ascendant so Rupert the person or his personal actions will be affected. Sagittarius (Jupiter) is intercepted in the 12th house, so indicates that Rupert will have no control over what is going on leaving him isolated and suffering in some way. Finally Aquarius (Uranus) sits on the cusp of the 3rd house so this is a learning curve for Rupert, communication and media will be focused upon and changes will have to be made. I will look at a couple more aspects. Transiting Pluto conjuncts the ascendant and trines to natal Neptune. Here the self is affected (Ascendant) through actions from the 7th house (Pluto – powerful adversaries or those in control) and 9th house (deceptive practices in foreign media). Ultimately this will lead to a loss of power (Scorpio on cusp of 12th) and a finalisation of a situation (Pisces on 4th house cusp) possibly involving the family. Finally as this crisis ratcheted up, transiting Mars in the 6th was exactly square to natal Mercury in the 4th. Mars in the 6th indicated that his everyday work routine (6th) was being upset by the actions (Mars) of an employee (6th) in his media empire (Mercury) and this situation was impacting on someone in the family (4th).
That someone of course is his son James. He was born on 13th December 1972 in Wimbledon, London (I have no birth time for him). James has an adventurous Sagittarian Sun and a Piscean Moon, complementing his father’s Sun. More than likely his Moon would be in conjunction with his father’s Sun, so there is a natural affinity between them and no surprise to me that Rupert has seen James as his heir apparent. James’ Moon is difficultly aspected, squared by both Sun and Saturn (which is retrograde) forming a stressful t-square. This aspect suggests a problems between his mother and father (they divorced in 1999), the retrograde Saturn tells me that he never received the love that he needed from his father. As he needs to feel approval (Moon square Saturn), James will do anything to feel accepted by his father, and with a Sagittarian Sun, he has the instinct of a gambler. James is a bit of a risk taker and it is fine when you win, but it spells trouble in big business when you don’t. Saturn is quindecile Mercury, so James will not enjoy making speeches or speaking in public as a rule. He will have a serious demeanour and will appear as someone with the weight of the world on his shoulders. In someway, at only 38 and in such a high powered business position, it is.
Also in Sagittarius is a Neptune and Mercury conjunction. Along with the Pisces Moon, there is a huge amount of creative talent on this chart, especially with regard to music which James will love. This will surely be his release away from work. In cutting his teeth in business, James ran record companies, which eventually were absorbed into the News Corp portfolio. James will like the creative side of the media business, however one thing he is not blessed with is huge common sense and logic, his mind will work in a non-linear fashion. The Neptune/Mercury conjunction is sextile to Pluto and as a result he will be interested in anything secret mysterious or unusual.
Uranus in Libra is at the point of a wedge formation fanning out to the Sun/Saturn opposition. James will like his independence and will not be afraid of using technology or non traditional techniques to forward his work ambitions. There is also a mini grand trine on this chart based around the Moon trine Mars/Venus conjunction sextile to Jupiter. Venus/Mars can be a little pushy and in Scorpio is very deep, emotional and jealous. There is a sting to his temper and huge determination to get the better of rivals. Mars in Scorpio sextile Jupiter in Capricorn is clever, very confident and hugely ambitious and associated with big achievers. One will be able to plan and follow a clear strategy and this aspect will give James a very professional attitude in his endeavours, however there is the risk of being over confident thinking that one can get away with almost anything.
Putting all these elements together, you can see a possible picture forming. James needing the approval of his father would be tempted to sanction his employees to risks to keep his newspapers at the top of the market. The allegations coming out of News International are truly shocking, and as more leak out, one does have to ask how far did these alleged practises go? Is it just contained within the UK, or does this contagion spread throughout the whole Murdoch empire, and just who has been victim to the same alleged illegal activity?
James transit chart is very stressful. Transiting Neptune is exactly square natal Mercury so you can see deception (Neptune) and media (Mercury) causing him trouble. Transiting Uranus is trine natal Neptune – technology and bizarre practices (Uranus) used for these deceptive acts. Uranus is also square to natal Pluto and transiting Pluto is square it’s natal position too. This to me suggests a transformation in James’ life of some sort. Transiting Saturn is square natal Jupiter, so James over confidence will lead to difficult consequences, defeat and lessons for him to learn.
Without James’ birth time, it is difficult to guess how this situation will pan out, however if the allegations do lead to his door, then father Rupert will have an agonising decision to make. To protect his own company, will he have to sack his own son? The transiting Pluto square Pluto aspect on James’ chart does not bode well for him. As much as he loves James as a father would, Rupert is a hard nosed businessman and I believe he would not shirk in his responsibilities.
**** Update 29th Feb 2012 ****
James Murdoch today left News International in the UK being “moved” by his father to other duties in New York looking after pay TV expansion. Sounds like a bit of a demotion. He moves as transiting Uranus at 3 Aries is just one degree from exactly opposing James’ natal Pluto at 4 Libra. This will bring a great sudden change in his life and the power he wields. Transiting Neptune is also exactly square to his natal Mercury which is quite deflating. One wonders if he has a Virgo or Gemini Midheaven?
This move is obviously designed to take him out of the line of fire in London, especially as the “Sun on Sunday” has now launched replacing the long departed News of the World. Does it show that James is more culpable than the Murdoch family have let on so far? I always thought there was a potential cover up between father and son, and the events of 29th Feb 12 only strengthen my views. I very much suspect he stayed just until the new newspaper was launched, and then by mutual agreement with his father he went to hide away in New York. The family business as such stays alive and well, for now at least…
Links - News of the World Closes Andy Coulson United Kingdom chart & the hacking scandal
Richard Branson, arguably Britain’s finest ever entrepreneur has never shirked away from a challenge. After the pilots of Virgin Atlantic yesterday voted 97% in favour of strike action in protest of their pay, Richard faces one of the sterner tests so far of his working career to date, in trying to protect the reputation of his beloved airline.
Richard Branson was born on 18th July 1950 in Blackheath, London at 07.00am. Richard is a security and family orientated Cancerian in the 12th house with a very precise and hands on Virgo Moon in the first. Indeed, this is a very hands on chart as most of the planets, save Jupiter are located in the Eastern hemisphere of the chart. This man has a me first attitude, seeing things his way. With the Sun and Mercury tucked away in the 12th house, Richard will take the view that his place in life through his work is to serve the public. The 12th house is the house of service and sacrifice to others and quite appropriately Richard’s Sun Mercury conjunction squares his Midheaven representing his working role in life. Until looking at this horoscope I always found Richard quite a nervous and faltering orator and speaker, and though what he does say has a strong message to it (Mercury is in Leo) I suspect this is one part of the business he doesn’t enjoy, or at least he knows he has to do but wishes he didn’t have to. Mercury in the 12th is reluctant to show and share his personal opinions. The astrology backs up my initial opinions, and suggests there is more to Richard Branson than meets the eye.
What does initially strike you and the public’s perception of Richard Branson is his flashy, always in your face presentation, demonstrated by a proud over the top Leo Ascendant and the go ahead Aries Midheaven. Think of fast cars, girls on aircraft wings, the bright red uniforms of the Virgin Atlantic employees, Richard will stop at nothing to promote his businesses and of course having a Leo Ascendant, he will have to be centre stage in all of it. It is really interesting that somebody with a shy retiring service orientated Sun/Moon combination (Cancer and Virgo are not interested in being in the limelight) should be upfront as much as Richard is. The devil as they say is in the detail and this is where Richard really hits the mark. That precise, self obsessed Moon in Virgo in the first house says it all for me. He is emotionally involved in the tiniest aspects of his work, the minute planning, the critical assessment of everything, making sure that the lowest ranking of his employees are felt to be important. Saturn in the second house sitting on his own in Virgo, brings the same attributes, an obsession with the smallest details and hyper-critical, Richard is the ultra perfectionist. Saturn here brings fear, fear that he doesn’t have enough money to achieve all that he wants to achieve. This fear will drive him forward ferociously to work and to work in order to earn. The impression I get is that the bravado he exhibits is all a front, a show to veil a much more insecure man underneath.
The Moon in the first house is a sensitive, caring Moon as well as an independent one wanting to be master of all it controls. His company after all is called Virgin, represented naturally by the sign of Virgo. This is his emotional baby and one he wholeheartedly throws his whole weight and desires behind. Why? Because Pluto sits conjunct his Leo Ascendant, also in his first house. Pluto in Leo in the first will stop at nothing to be the best, and will obsessively fight until the top position in any goal is achieved. I call Pluto in the first house the love’em or hate’em position. Those with Pluto in the first will provoke strong opinions in everyone around them. They can be a tremendous force for good, and yet a terrible foe to face.
Sextile to the first house Pluto is a conjunction of Mars and Neptune in the 3rd house. Neptune and Mars together always brings great charisma and bright ideas, Richard will always be on the lookout for the next big thing. In the 3rd house and in Libra, Richard brings these ideas to the social (Libra) arena. The third house is the house of the salesman and Richard will push and push, promote and promote to get these ideas off the ground. The pitch will always be the same, the first, the newest, the freshest, the most innovative, reflecting his Aries ascendant.
Reinforcing this push for fresh ideas is a trine between Jupiter in the 8th house and Uranus in the 11th forming a wedge with the 1st house Moon via a sextile between Uranus and Moon and an opposition between the Moon and Jupiter. Lucky Jupiter sits in the house of big business and connects with that independent Virgo Moon. Richard was truly born with the aspects of an entrepreneur. As this is an opposition, the business side of it needs constant hard work (Moon in Virgo), however the innovation side of it (trine Uranus) comes easy, think Virgin Galactic – big business ventures (Jupiter in 8th) ideas based around space travel (Uranus). The Jupiter/Uranus connection does have a humanitarian side too. Richard will always be a generous giver to charities and causes that he is interested in. Surrounded by unusual, influential friends (Uranus in 11th), Richard will love chatting, socializing and sharing ideas with others (Venus in 11th).
So why is Richard in the airline business? Look at the North Node, his ultimate direction in life and immediately you see. The North Node sits in the 9th house of long distance travel and through the South Node opposite in the 3rd house you can see his progression in life, from the wheeler dealer of his early business days in music at Virgin Records (South Node in the 3rd as well as creative Neptune, the ruler of music) to the multi billionaire who can afford to run and finance his own airline (North Node in the 9th). Maybe the long distance travel has even further to run as his Virgin Galactic project starts up soon.
Now then, lets have a look at what is currently going on in Richard’s world. On the Solar Arcs chart, Solar Arc Mercury is exactly sitting on Richard’s natal South node and opposite his North Node. Mercury in Richard’s chart rules the 2nd House of finance and the 11th house of groups and institutions (unions). Immediately you can see the discussions (Mercury) & disagreement (opposition) now public knowledge (North Node). Solar Arc Mars is square natal Saturn so this is a time where there is a challenge (Mars, also ruling his Midheaven) to his authority (Saturn – Capricorn is on the cusp of the 6th representing employees) and with Solar Arc Saturn square his Ascendant, you can see that this dispute will be hurting him immensely. All his work and the entire reputation of Virgin Atlantic, which until now has been pretty faultless is under stress. So, how will he react? Solar Arc Pluto is half a degree from being conjunct to natal Mars. Noel Tyl comments on this combination of using extreme force, persuasion and control, brutality and excessive effort. It says to me that Richard will not lie down lightly to his authority being challenged. I would bet that in the upcoming stand off with the Virgin pilot’s union, he is going to play hardball – this could get ugly and as Pluto is involved, Richard’s work reputation (Aries on Midheaven) may never be seen in the same light ever again.
***Update 28th June 2011***
Richard Branson wrote to the Daily Mirror releasing a letter sent to the striking pilots. in it he said it would leave “an indelible scar on the company”. He went on “I believe the offer is fair. I’ve looked at all the facts and believe that our management has made the best offer it can.” Sounds like my suggestion that he would not take this strike lying down is proving correct – so far…
***Update 7th July 2011***
Today there was an announcement from Virgin Atlantic that the strike threat by the pilot’s union has been lifted and an “agreement” has been reached. There are no indications of what that agreement was as yet.
Is there a more self confident, attention seeking executive in the United States than Donald Trump? Rumours abound that he may soon throw his hat into the ring to be a contender for the Republican party ticket and thus a contender in the 2012 race to be President.
Donald was born in Queens, New York on 14th June 1946 at 10.54 hrs. He has a Gemini Sun with a optimistic Sagittarius Sun and an attention seeking Leo Ascendant. Geminis often have a lot to say and with Donald it is difficult to keep him ever out of the news. This Gemini Sun is in the the 10th house of work and business conjunct to independent Uranus, so it is no surprise that he is a free thinking and talking businessman with radical, controversial views. He has a Taurus Midheaven, the sign of the constructor or builder, he has built his own empire and his own skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan!!. The Sagittarius Moon continuously encourages him to expand his horizons and the Leo Ascendant makes him pompous, confident in the belief that his rightful position is at the top. The orientation of the chart is to the Eastern hemisphere so there is an element of selfishness about him and there is complete lack of planets in earth signs which can be a big problem. Donald will find it difficult to keep his feet on the ground and he will be a hard man to please, expecting perfection from all those around him. He is the type of person will believe anything is possible with five cardinal planets in his chart, and the kind who will provoke strong reactions in people, both good and bad.
The main feature on the chart is a wedge pattern based around the Sun/Uranus in the 10th opposite to the Moon in the 4th house.The wedge is completed with respective trines and Sextile to Jupiter in the 2nd house forming the point of the formation. As I intimated earlier, Sun/Uranus is in the business 10th house and the opposition to the Moon in the property and home orientated 4th house shows that the work he does is linked to real-estate. Jupiter at the point of the wedge gives him plenty of luck (Jupiter trine Uranus), optimism (Jupiter trine Sun) and financial gain as this is the house of money making. The Moon in Sagittarius sextile to Jupiter in Libra gives him an almost lazy self confidence and generosity, he will want to make his friends and associates comfortable and he may be “over generous” to them. The Sun/Uranus and Moon opposition sits on the maternal Node axis. Donald would have had a very close relationship with his parents, especially his mother and they were very influential in guiding his path in this life. Donald took over his father’s business in real estate. The Moon opposite Uranus indicates that Donald’s emotions will fluctuate wildly and that his emotional life would be punctuated by sudden change. More of that later…
Alongside Jupiter in the financial 2nd house is Neptune. Neptune here often indicated that money will be made by creative pursuits and and while at school Donald considered attending film school. That urge to perform has never left him and he has been able to fulfil this desire through “The Apprentice” TV show, making a reputed $3 million an episode. Not bad work if you can get it? Neptune, as you will be aware if you have read other articles on this blog rules TV and film. Neptune is sextile to Pluto in Leo so here is the link to him being the boss (Leo) in the show, having control in hiring and firing (Pluto). Neptune is square to Mercury in the 11th, the house of groups and associations. Here again is a media and TV link (Neptune/Mercury) and the group of young executives (11th) being whittled down to one. Mercury in Cancer in the 11th house shows an interest in and dealing with groups, associations and politics. This is something he will feel emotionally (Cancer) drawn to, but he will be quite a reluctant speaker, he will prefer to communicate with small more personal groups rather than on the grand scale. What he does say may well resonate with the American nation however, as the US Sun is also in Cancer and conjuncts with Trump’s natal Mercury.
Mars sits in the underground 12th house in Leo conjunct the ascendant. Again this shows a great amount of ambition and drive, a love of sport, being the boss and giving decisions. This Mars is at the point of another wedge with the Sun and Moon, pushing forward his work ideas, however there is also the ultimate urge of working on behalf of other people too. Pluto also sits in this house and you can feel the energy of controlling, being at the top but in the process helping everyone around him. This is the house of sacrifice, will Trump sacrifice his all his business empire and all his work ambitions in the ultimate pursuit of being the top man in the nation? The temptation must be huge.
Finally I focus on Saturn and Venus which sit conjunct in Cancer also with Mercury in the 11th house. Here is a very emotional social man, loving people and his circle of friends, sentimental, caring and constantly needing of attention, both emotional (Venus), authoritarian (Saturn) and through the media (Mercury). In essence, he desperately need to be shown love. Venus Saturn shows that in personal relationships he can be cold and somewhat unfeeling and he will have many emotional breakdowns and disappointments in his life. Trump is onto his third marriage already and this need to be loved and the constant breakdowns in his relationships will always blight his life. Saturn in the 11th shows the potential to administrate in government or to lead a party. Here is yet another sign that he may harbour higher office. The combination of the the three planets here is a potent one, and will focus his everyday desires.
Do the transits of the day suggest that Trump will run for office? Right now Trumps natal chart is receiving a plethora of annoying transits, transiting Pluto opposite Mercury and square Neptune as well as transiting Neptune opposite his Ascendant and transiting Uranus opposite Neptune, with controversial (Uranus) quotes (Mercury) at a Republican rally (Mercury in 11th), plenty of confusion (Neptune) about his personal (Ascendant) voting record (Mercury in 11th) affecting his potential quest for power (Pluto). However transiting Jupiter is sextile his Sun trine his natal moon and opposite it’s natal position, so Trump will have the optimism to shake off any setbacks. As Jupiter moves into Taurus which is the sign on his Midheaven, and in June and July makes a trine to Mercury and a square to transformational Pluto, do not be surprised if he does make an announcement to enter the race. When and if he announces, I will look further ahead to his possible chances of being successful…
