Former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes (Photo: Courtesy of FOX)
Former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes is dead at age 77, the Drudge Report first reported and the family has confirmed.
Statement from Elizabeth Ailes, his surviving wife:
I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning. Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise—and to give back. During a career that stretched over more than five decades, his work in entertainment, in politics, and in news affected the lives of many millions. And so even as we mourn his death, we celebrate his life.
Mr. Ailes resigned from Fox in the summer of 2016 amid former Fox News Channel Host Gretchen Carlson making accusations of sexual harassment in a lawsuit against him. He had denied the allegations.
Founding Fox News and dominating the cable news industry, Mr. Ailes is widely regarded as a genius for seeing a need for a conservative outlet to counter the liberal news monopoly. In the early 1990s, he served as president of CNBC, which he left to create Fox News.
