A court battle to determine the future of Rupert Murdoch's media empire and a £14.9bn family trust begins in the US on Monday. The case will pit 93-year-old Mr Murdoch against three of his eldest children over who will gain the most voting shares and power to control News Corp and Fox News when the billionaire dies.
It has been reported that Mr Murdoch wanted to amend a family trust created in 1999 so that son Lachlan could take control without "interference" from his siblings Prudence, Elisabeth and James.
The famous family was one of the inspirations behind the hugely popular TV series Succession - something the Murdochs have always refused to comment on.
Mr Murdoch, who has been married five times, also has two younger children, Grace and Chloe, who do not have any voting rights under the trust agreement.
“From what we know, this plan essentially seeks to put Prudence, James and Elisabeth on the same footing as Murdoch’s two younger daughters,” said Walter Marsh, an Australian journalist and author of the biography Young Rupert: The making of the Murdoch Empire. He added that “all voting power” could be handed over to Lachlan.
From the 1960s, Mr Murdoch built up his media empire into a globe-spanning media giant with major political and public influence. His two companies are News Corporation, which owns newspapers including the Times and the Sun in the UK and the Wall Street Journal in the US, and Fox, which broadcasts Fox News.
Mr Murdoch had been preparing his two sons to follow in his footsteps, beginning when they were teens, journalist Andrew Neil told the 2020 BBC documentary The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty. "Family has always been very important to Rupert Murdoch, particularly from the point of view of forming a dynasty," the former Sunday Times editor said.
Alice Enders, head of research at Enders Analysis, told the BBC the court battle was "actually about commercial interests". “The solution would of course have been either for the siblings to have agreed to the change or more likely than not have been bought out in some way, but the price of buying them out is astronomical and Lachlan would have had to assume it just the same as Rupert bought out his siblings many years ago,” she added.
In 1999, the Murdoch Family Trust, which owns the media companies, was supposed to largely settle the succession plans. It led to Mr Murdoch giving his eldest children various jobs within his companies. The trust gives the family eight votes, which it can use to have a say on the board of News Corp and Fox News. Mr Murdoch currently controls four of those votes, with his eldest children being in charge of one each. The trust agreement said that once Mr Murdoch died, his votes would be passed on to his four eldest children equally.
However, differences in opinions and political views were said to lead to a family rift. The media mogul stepped down as Fox and News Corp chairman in favour of Lachlan, who reportedly shares the same right-wing views as his father. This has reportedly led to James, Elisabeth and Prudence uniting and “fighting back”.
The private court case is being held at Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada. Media outlets have been barred from the proceedings, which are expected to unfold with testimony from the media titan and the four children named in the trust over the next week, according to the New York Times, which first brought the dispute to light after obtaining copies of sealed court documents.
These types of family battles often end in settlements. The case could also be prolonged, if it ends in a decision that one side chooses to appeal against.
Prudence is Mr Murdoch's eldest child, from his marriage to his first wife Patricia Booker. He had Elisabeth, Lachlan and James with second wife Anna Mann, whom he was married to from 1967 to 1999. Grace and Chloe's mother is Wendi Deng, who was married to the billionaire from 1999 to 2013. Mr Murdoch's fourth marriage was to model Jerry Hall in 2016, with the couple divorcing in 2022. He recently married his fifth wife Elena Zhukova in June this year.
The Future of Fox News: A Conservative Vision?
The future of Fox News — one of the most influential players in television and conservative politics — appears likely to be determined, improbably, by a probate court official in Reno, Nevada. Absent a last-minute settlement, the trial begins Monday.
The proceedings more broadly involve the disposition of 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, which also includes the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, the Australian and the New York Post.
Murdoch wants to amend his trust to hand off full control to his eldest son, Lachlan, who is currently running their companies. Lachlan’s three eldest siblings — those who are poised to share control of the business with him after their father dies — oppose the change. The two youngest children — daughters from Rupert Murdoch’s third marriage — share equally in the financial bounty, but have been promised no control.
The stakes and arc of the family’s struggles are Shakespearean and inspired the HBO drama Succession; the pettiness can sometimes seem Seinfeldian. The court battle is about money and power, but also whether Fox News should remain relentlessly partisan and right-wing as part of a business plan to yield the best results.
Lachlan’s siblings appear to be less enamored of the hard-right line. His only brother, James, has become increasingly critical of the pro-Trump and often anti-news populism embraced by the network.
“If they were to change the direction and move [Fox News] into the direction of a CNN format, or go down the middle, it will lose its identity, lose viewers and lose revenues,” says Joe Peyronnin, a veteran network news executive who served as Fox News president in its earliest stages, in the mid-1990s. “I say that as someone who is a journalist and who would love to see that change,” Peyronnin adds. “They have been the single most divisive entity in the last 30 years in politics. If there was no Fox News, we’d still have mud fights, but it wouldn’t be like today.”
The Murdoch Dynasty: A Family in Turmoil
Murdoch’s petition to change the terms of the trust were first cited by the New York Times and subsequently affirmed to NPR by three people with ties to various interested parties. Those people spoke to NPR on condition they not be named, as the probate commissioner has ruled the proceedings – and even the identities of the parties involved – are confidential.
The legal battle stems from a fateful decision a generation ago: Murdoch agreed to set up an irrevocable family trust to sidestep a battle royal over his assets when he left his second wife, Anna Torv Murdoch Mann. He gave his four oldest adult children equal shares and equal control over his holdings after his death.
In exchange for the agreement — and a $110 million payout — Murdoch Mann agreed to forgo a protracted fight over her share of his media holdings. (Rupert Murdoch’s younger two daughters with his third wife, Wendi Deng, were ultimately given full financial parity with their siblings, but no voting control in the trust. He had no children with his fourth wife, Jerry Hall. He married his fifth wife earlier this year.)
After years of corporate competition between James and Lachlan, the elder brother prevailed: Lachlan is now executive chairman of Fox Corp., the television wing of the empire, and chairman of News Corp., its publishing arm.
The stock price of News Corp. has soared in the five and a half years since Lachlan took over. That of Fox Corp. has been bumpier. Due to a massive phone-hacking debacle involving News Corp.’s British tabloids and a series of defamation suits involving Fox News, both arms have been mired in costly and debilitating legal scandals.
In Reno, Rupert Murdoch is arguing that Prudence, Elisabeth and James are likely to soft-pedal the network's ideology, which would undermine its appeal to its right-leaning audience. Rupert and his four eldest children are expected to show up in court this week.
A Battle for Control: Rupert Murdoch's Legacy at Stake
People who have worked for Rupert Murdoch say he is incensed by the dispute. He believes that he was the singular force propelling the creation of this $32 billion continent-hopping media juggernaut from the single paper in Adelaide, Australia left to him by his father; that he should determine who controls the companies, though they are publicly traded, by right and to avoid confusion and litigation after his death; that his children were well taken care of when they each received $2 billion from the sale of major Fox entertainment properties to Disney in 2019; and that he and Lachlan have led the twin television and publishing companies ably since that sale.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that after that sale to Disney, Rupert Murdoch asked each of his four eldest children to give him more than $100 million. Lachlan, Prudence and Elisabeth did so. James refused. (The Journal is ultimately controlled by Lachlan Murdoch; its reporting has not been publicly challenged.)
Over the years, various children have flitted in and out of favor with their father. Rupert pitted the two boys, in particular, against each other. Prudence, the eldest by his first wife, often served as her dad’s adviser as she forswore any corporate ambition. Elisabeth attended the Super Bowl in early 2023 with Rupert (and Elon Musk). She did not attend her father’s wedding earlier this year. Neither did James. By then, they were already on opposing sides in court.
James and his wife Kathryn Murdoch have emerged as strong philanthropists for climate change, voting rights and other liberal causes. He has advocated for Fox to more closely resemble the centrist and less confrontational Sky News in Europe, which James oversaw when it was in the Murdoch fold. James has criticized Murdoch’s Australian publications over coverage of global warming and Fox over its treatment of the 2020 election and the January 6 siege of Congress.
Those with links to James, Elisabeth and Prudence say that under their father and brother, the companies have taken dire hits. The scandals that have beset the empire on both sides of the Atlantic have cost well over $2 billion so far. The litigation continues. And they make a further case: that Fox News’ embrace of a Trumpian conservatism endangers their news outlets’ reputation for journalism.
Last year, Rupert and Lachlan agreed Fox Corp. would pay a record $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News over false claims of fraud in the 2020 elections. Evidence that became public included emails in which the father and son gave their blessing to network executives’ decision to indulge former President Donald Trump’s lies to avoid alienating viewers.
Lachlan Murdoch and his team ousted prime time star Tucker Carlson shortly after as part of an effort to distance itself from that period. Carlson’s replacement, Jesse Watters, has drawn strong ratings.
Rupert Murdoch officially stepped away from active control of his companies last year, a few months after the settlement. He has told associates his actions were only to ensure clarity of corporate strategy and an embrace of what works.
Will the Murdoch Dynasty Survive?
In Reno, the probate commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman Jr., concluded that Rupert Murdoch had the right to revise the trust if it worked to the benefit of all of his heirs. Gorman must decide whether the media magnate has made a good-faith argument that that is what his proposed changes are intended to do.
Past suggestions of settlements have fallen apart. It would be financially difficult for Lachlan to buy out his siblings. And the others, should they hold onto their voting stakes, may choose to sell off properties rather than retain them for Lachlan to run. Presumably, after Lachlan joins Rupert Murdoch in seeking to take away their influence, the other three children might choose to unseat him as corporate chief and replace him with someone else.
Murdoch, 93, in Nevada for case that could determine which family members will control businesses after his death
Murdoch, 93, arrived at court on Monday for the hearing. Last year, he moved to change the terms of his irrevocable family trust in an effort to ensure that his eldest son, Lachlan, remains in charge of his cadre of newspapers and television networks, including the Wall Street Journal and Fox News Channel, according to reporting by the New York Times based on a sealed court document.
Evidentiary hearings in the case are scheduled to run through Tuesday of next week. The court has kept the hearings closed to the public and most documents sealed, largely rejecting requests for access by news organizations including the Associated Press.
The trust was originally set up to give equal control over Rupert Murdoch’s businesses to his four oldest children upon his death, according to the Times.
Murdoch stepped down as leader of Fox News’s parent company and his News Corp media holdings last autumn. He is arguing that to preserve the commercial value of his businesses for all his heirs, the trust must be changed so Lachlan can ensure his newspapers and TV networks continue to have a conservative editorial outlook, the New York Times reported.
Lachlan succeeded his father as chairman of News Corp in November. He is also executive officer at Fox Corp, home to the conservative news network Fox News, the Fox broadcast and sports networks, and local TV stations. The media empire spans continents and helped to shape modern American politics.
Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to change the trust has pitted him against his other three children named as beneficiaries: James, Elisabeth and Prudence, and they have united to stop their father from revising the trust, according to the New York Times.
Irrevocable trusts are typically used to limit estate taxes, among other reasons, and cannot be changed without permission from the beneficiaries or via a court order.
The Nevada probate commissioner Edmund J Gorman of the second judicial district court in Reno ruled this summer that Rupert Murdoch could amend the trust if he can show that he is acting in good faith and for the sole benefit of his heirs, the newspaper reported.
The court’s ruling notes that Murdoch sought to give Lachlan permanent and exclusive control over his companies because the mogul was worried that a lack of consensus among his children could affect the strategic direction at his companies, including potentially leading to a change in editorial policy and content.
The Murdoch Succession: A Fight for Fox News' Future
The Murdochs — the real-life media family that inspired HBO’s Succession — are currently navigating a court case that could rival any fictional drama.
The family, led by 93-year-old patriarch Rupert Murdoch, controls a vast, global news organization that includes the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London, as well as Fox News in the United States. When it comes to Fox News in particular, Rupert Murdoch has exercised a great level of editorial control, helping to shape the network’s coverage — and, as a result, conservative political narratives in the US.
Rupert Murdoch stepped back from running his empire in 2023, and handed the role of chair of News Corp to his eldest son, Lachlan, who also stayed on as CEO of Fox Corp, and is seen as the Murdoch child most politically aligned with his father’s conservative viewpoints.
Upon Rupert Murdoch’s death, however, the voting shares he holds in the companies are set to be split evenly among the four children he had in his second marriage to Anna Murdoch Mann — including Lachlan. In a new court case set to begin this week, Rupert Murdoch is now pushing to amend the previously established trust to give the bulk of this power to Lachlan.
At stake is the ideological future of Fox News and News Corp: Unlike Lachlan, the other three elder Murdoch siblings — James, Elisabeth, and Prudence — are viewed as more centrist, and could take the family’s media outlets in a more moderate direction. That concern is among those that spurred Rupert Murdoch to pursue this court action, and to shift more control to the child he sees as most likely to carry on his vision.
The outcome will be determined by Nevada probate commissioner Edmund Gorman in a closed Reno court. The trust, which was created in 1999 around Murdoch and Murdoch Mann’s divorce proceedings, was designed to be “irrevocable,” or quite difficult to change. In order to make the amendment, Rupert Murdoch will have to demonstrate that the alteration is to the benefit of all of his heirs.
Whether he succeeds could have a major impact, both on the future of the outlets in his media empire, and on the role they play in shaping US and global politics.
Fox News, which Rupert Murdoch first founded in 1996, has become a mainstay for conservative cable news, and is known for elevating former President Donald Trump as well as misinformation about everything from election interference to climate change. In 2023, Fox paid Dominion Voting Systems $787 million after it was sued for amplifying lies suggesting that the company’s machines were rigged against a Trump win.
During that lawsuit, documents came out indicating that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch knew Trump’s claims the election was stolen were lies, but chose to do nothing to discourage them. Instead, they decided to focus on deepening viewers’ trust of Fox News, seemingly by broadcasting what Trump’s supporters wanted to hear.
As of now, Rupert Murdoch holds a 40 percent voting share in both News Corp and Fox Corp, and under the existing trust, each of the four siblings would get an equal fraction of this when he passes away.
If Rupert Murdoch wins the Reno court case, and Lachlan gains the majority of these shares, the network could well continue, and even expand, its conservative approach. “It’s important to note that Lachlan’s politics are far more conservative than his father,” Hollywood Reporter special correspondent Lachlan Cartwright previously said on The New Abnormal podcast. In that scenario, his siblings would still receive financial inheritances, but they would have much less say in the media outlets’ future, much like Rupert’s two youngest daughters, Grace and Chloe, from his third marriage to Wendi Deng.
If the trust stays as is, however, there’s a possibility that James, Elisabeth, and Prudence work together to moderate the network’s tone.
James, in particular, has notably broken with his father publicly, including resigning from his position on the News Corp board in 2020. He and his wife Kathryn have also previously issued statements expressing disappointment in the climate change denial pushed by News Corp entities in Australia, and he’s condemned the media’s “lies” for contributing to the January 6 insurrection, though he stopped short of naming Fox News explicitly.
Rupert Murdoch has said that the possible changes in ideological direction — as well as potential disagreement among the siblings about next steps — could harm the company, and are some of the main reasons he’s trying to reopen the trust. According to the Wall Street Journal, those close to the Murdochs have also flagged concerns that James could urge a sale of Fox News. Allies to the other three siblings, meanwhile, argue that Fox Corp has suffered under Lachlan’s leadership, including setbacks like the Dominion case.
In the past, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence have also suggested proposals that would involve Rupert and Lachlan buying out the shares of the other family members, though those have fallen through.
All told, the messy court case is poised to have serious ramifications for the Murdoch family members — and for the broader state of media as well.
