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It's a scene that should melt the heart of even the most abused News Corp. employee: Fearless leader Rupert Murdoch settles into a high-backed leather chair in front of a crackling fire, snuggled underneath a red, velvet blanket, then orders the immediate execution of the incompetent charged with informing him that no number of reindeer will be sufficient in meeting his goal of flying to every one of his underlings' place of business to deliver his holiday wishes individually. His face twists in disappointment as he realizes that he'll have to settle for an unacceptably impersonal mass e-mail, in which a celebration of the year's accomplishments always seems overpowered by a call to resist the complacency engendered by the largely successful world domination plan of the past year. Also, he is greedily licking an enormous candy cane:

For our company, next year may yet be even more eventful than this one. Competition will grow more fierce. Yet I have full confidence that we can rise to the challenge. Our company has not only thrived on change, we have been a catalyst for change. We have created new businesses and pioneered new products. We have the talent, the energy - and the urgency - to forge ahead. I know that through your hard work, we can, and we will.

The full e-mail, which will leave no heart-cockle unwarmed, follows after the jump:

From: Fox Communications Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 11:43 AM To: Fox Communications Subject: Season's Greetings from Rupert Murdoch

Dear Colleagues,

As the year comes to a close, I want to thank all of you for another outstanding year. Each of our divisions excelled and our company posted record revenues and profits. Yet there is much more to the spirit of this company - and to this season - than just the bottom line.

Among the many highlights of this eventful year, your response to the natural disasters that took so many innocent lives and destroyed or disrupted whole regions stands out. Together our company and employees contributed more than $8 million to help the victims of the South Asian tsunami. When catastrophe struck again less than a year later, in the forms of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, you rose to the occasion once more, generously donating more than $675,000. Nothing could better illustrate the values of our company, and I am inspired by your commitment to helping those in need.

This year, I had the good fortune to meet many of you and visit your places of work. My travels took me from New York to China, India, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Los Angeles - nearly every place we have a business interest. I came away more impressed than ever by the quality of our operations and especially of our people. It is clear that wherever we operate, there is one standard by which we measure ourselves: excellence.

Since last year, our corporate family has grown. We have acquired exciting new businesses and dramatically expanded our presence on the Internet. In the months and years to come, our company will have no higher priority than ensuring that we are as successful online as we have been in print and on the big and small screens. We will pursue the same strategy as always: offer the customer the highest quality content and the widest possible choices. But we will do it in new venues, in a media environment that is changing faster than ever. As we transform our company - and all its divisions - into an Internet heavyweight, we will lead, not follow.

For our company, next year may yet be even more eventful than this one. Competition will grow more fierce. Yet I have full confidence that we can rise to the challenge. Our company has not only thrived on change, we have been a catalyst for change. We have created new businesses and pioneered new products. We have the talent, the energy - and the urgency - to forge ahead. I know that through your hard work, we can, and we will.

So this holiday season, let us stop to cherish and appreciate those dearest to us. And let us look forward to another year of great things for our company, and for us all.

With my warmest wishes for a joyous Holiday Season,

Rupert Murdoch