New York, NY - Michael Wolff, a bestselling author, two-time National Magazine Award winner, and columnist for Vanity Fair, has signed with Doubleday to write the definitive story of Rupert Murdoch’s rise to the pinnacle of power, culminating in his recent $5 billion takeover of Dow Jones.

Bill Thomas, Editor-in-Chief of the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, acquired North American, open market English language, German, and audio rights from Andrew Wylie, President of the Wylie Agency, who represented Mr. Wolff in negotiations. Phyllis Grann, Senior Editor, will edit the book, which will be published in hardcover in the fall of 2009.

Drawing upon his unrivaled access to Rupert Murdoch himself, his business associates, and his family members, Wolff will depict the intense corporate and family saga that forms the back story of the media mogul’s ultimate consolidation of power. In chronicling his remarkable ascendancy, he will bring to life Murdoch’s views on business, about himself, and on the media, providing new insight into one of the most powerful, vivid, and fascinating men of our age.

A contributing editor and columnist at Vanity Fair since early 2004, Michael Wolff is the author of the national bestseller Burn Rate: How I Survived the Gold Rush Years on the Internet, as well as of the books Autumn of the Moguls, White Kids, and Where We Stand, which became a multipart PBS series. From 1998 to 2004, his column, “This Media Life,” was prominently featured in New York Magazine. A frequent contributor to CNBC, Wolff has also written extensively about politics and gained international recognition for his dispatches from the Persian Gulf during the Iraq War.