Rupert Murdoch has agreed to host a political fundraiser for Hillary Clinton this summer, the Financial Times is reporting!

Murdoch's surprise decision to raise money for Clinton in July, on behalf of NEWS CORP., parent company of FOX News and the New York Post, underlines a dramatic turn of relations between Murdoch and Clinton, who in 1998 coined the phrase “vast rightwing conspiracy” to denounce critics of her husband.

Some say the move by Murdoch reflects approval of her Senate career, notes FT's Caroline Daniel. Others point to Murdoch's record for picking future national leaders. Last century, he threw over the British conservatism he'd long supported to back longshot Tony Blair.

Clinton surprised Washington and media watchers recently by attending a FOX News anniversary party, where she toasted Murdoch.

Political powerbroker and studio head Harvey Weinstein is said to have convinced Hillary that Murdoch could be a friend, not a foe, in her ongoing political maneuvers.

Hillary has now cornered the NY media market, by winning support from the New York Times, New York Daily News, owner Mort Zuckerman--and now Murdoch and the New York Post.