Fox News founder Roger Ailes dies at 77

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Roger Ailes, who famously built the conservative news powerhouse Fox News from the ground up, died Thursday at the age of 77.

"I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning," Elizabeth AIles, said in a statement carried by Fox.

"Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise -- and to give back," she added.

Details regarding Ailes's death were not immediately available.

Ailes established himself as a media titan among conservatives, and was to many the most powerful man in news before he ingloriously fell from power.

Ailes left Fox News last year amid a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former Fox anchor. He resigned on July 21, but denied any wrongdoing.

He had previously served as an aide to President Richard Nixon. During that time, Ailes issued a memo titled "A Plan For Putting the GOP on TV News", using shorthand for the Republican Party.

Fox News was founded 26 years later in 1996.