The buck stops with the guy who signs the checks.

Murdoch’s line recasts the older maxim “the buck stops here” in corporate terms: ultimate responsibility follows financial authority. The “guy who signs the checks” is the person empowered to allocate resources, hire and fire, and set priorities; therefore, that person cannot plausibly deflect blame when an organization’s actions go wrong. The quote also implies a realist view of power inside institutions—formal titles matter less than control of the purse strings. In a media-business setting, it underscores the idea that editorial independence, corporate culture, and ethical outcomes are shaped (and constrained) by ownership and executive decision-making.