Former House Speaker Paul Ryan has been appointed to the board of the new Fox Corp., which began trading publicly Tuesday following the completion of Walt Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox.
Fox Corp. is now parent company to Fox News and Fox Business as well as broadcast TV stations, several sports channels and other holdings.
Ryan will be joining the board along with Anne Dias, founder of the investment firm Aragon Global Holdings and the ex-wife of hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin; Chase Carey, chairman and CEO of Formula One; and Roland Hernandez, CEO of Hernandez Media Ventures, the company announced Tuesday. Previously announced board members include Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan and Jacques Nasser, a former Ford executive.
"We look forward to working with and being guided by them as we begin a new chapter, steadfastly committed to providing the best in news, sports and entertainment programming," said Lachlan Murdoch, chairman and CEO of Fox Corp.
Class B shares of the new Fox Corp. were down more than 3 percent by late morning Tuesday. Disney announced in 2017 that it was purchasing many parts of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion in stock. Under the deal, a new holding company called New Disney became the parent company of Disney and 21st Century Fox.
Ryan, 49, was House speaker before Democrats took control in January. The Wisconsin Republican announced early last year that he was retiring from Congress to spend more time with his family. After leaving his post, he rebuked Washington's "broken politics."
Ryan recently faced criticism from fellow Republicans for claiming he believed that some Democrats could beat President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections. He has since walked back his statements, saying the United States is "clearly" better off because of Trump.
Trump has been a longtime fan and avid watcher of Fox News and has close ties with some of the personalities on the network, including Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.
A spokesperson for Ryan did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.