Fox News to spin off $500 million sexual harassment slush fund into separate company: Wall Street excited

NEW YORK -- The financial markets soared Wednesday with Rupert Murdoch's surprise announcement that News Corp. plans to spin off Fox News' $500 million sexual harassment slush fund into a separate company.

"That's a huge pot of money, and I for one can't wait to invest. What a time to be alive!" amateur stock trader and sexual harassment expert Casey Affleck Tweeted at The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

Wall Street has long had its eye on Fox News' notorious sexual harassment slush fund, with some market-watchers speculating the fund could be worth as much as $2 billion in the coming years. 

"As long as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are employed by Fox, that pot of money is only going to grow," said CNBC's Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money. 

New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman is reporting that Fox News insiders estimate the fund to have been worth as much as $200 million in 2014 alone, "and that was before Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson got paid."

In his announcement, Murdoch said former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes would remain a 50 percent share holder, with dividends still being paid to Andrea Tantaros, Kellie Boyle, Marsha Callahan, Rudi Bakhtiar, and Laura Luhn into 2040.