Rupert Murdoch stood behind his top American asset, the anchor Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, for years, shrugging off a sexual harassment scandal in the mid-2000s and multiple complaints about Mr. O’Reilly’s behavior that surfaced behind closed doors.

Mr. Murdoch prizes loyalty and profits, both of which Mr. O’Reilly brought him in droves. And Mr. Murdoch disdains the politically correct mores of the media world, relishing any chance to defy liberal detractors who might challenge his success.

But Mr. Murdoch, 86, has also proved, time and again, that he is a pragmatist at his core — at least, when his hand is forced. Roger E. Ailes, the Fox News creator who generated billions of dollars for Mr. Murdoch, is gone. News of the World, the famed tabloid newspaper at the heart of a hacking scandal, is closed.

Now Mr. O’Reilly, the top cable news host in the United States, is out. Mr. Murdoch signed off on the decision, even if, according to people briefed on the deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, it took him longer than others in his circle to get there.