An intrafamily battle that could have been pulled straight out of the page of Jesse Armstrong’s “Succession” has been playing out behind the scenes for the future of Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire.
Rupert Murdoch announced last September that he was stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. — which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Post, among other publications — entrusting his elder son Lachlan Murdoch to the helm.
The anointing of Lachlan over his other three elder children — James, Elisabeth, and Prudence — seemed to answer decadeslong speculation over which of the Murdochs will lead the future of the right-leaning media conglomerates once Rupert, now 93 years old, dies.
Lachlan, who is sometimes seen as a parallel to Roman Roy, as Business Insider’s Madeline Berg reported, would likely preserve the political leanings of the media empire once he takes over.
But the family infighting appears to be anything but settled.
A sealed court document viewed by The New York Times indicated that a legal battle has been quietly playing out in Reno, Nevada, over the control of Fox and News Corp., pitting James, Elisabeth, and Prudence against their father.
According to the Times, citing court documents, Murdoch is attempting to rewrite the family trust, which originally gave his four oldest children equal input over his media empire, in order to give Lachlan total control.
Murdoch is arguing in court that he is making the change, to what is largely an irrevocable trust, in good faith to protect the value of his companies for the benefit of his children, the Times reported. A small stipulation in the trust allows for changes as long as all of the mentioned heirs will benefit, according to the Times report.
A Nevada probate commissioner determined that Murdoch could make the changes if he can prove that he is acting in good faith, according to documents seen by the Times. A trial is scheduled for September, according to the Times.
Although the children’s ownership stake will not be impacted by Murdoch’s changes, the new version of the trust would increase Lachlan’s voting powers for Fox and News Corp. so that he can’t be challenged by his siblings, according to the court documents seen by the Times.
James, Elisabeth, and Prudence, who are being represented by the same legal counsel, are arguing that the move violates the “equal governance provision” stipulated in the trust and are determined to maintain control of their father’s companies, the Times reported.
Attorneys for Murdoch and his three elder children did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Murdoch’s decision to give Lachlan control of his media empire has left the patriarch estranged from his three eldest children, according to the Times.
None of the three children attended Murdoch’s wedding to Elena Zhukova in June at his California vineyard, according to the Times report.
Over the years, the family had already seemed to exhibit rifts stemming from Murdoch’s news companies.
Most notably, James, a climate activist, who once appeared to be the leading contender to take over the media empire, has publicly bristled at Fox News’ coverage and embrace of Donald Trump.
“There are views I really disagree with on Fox,” James told The New Yorker in 2019, about a year before he left his seat on the News Corp. board of directors.
“My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions,” the son wrote in his brief letter of resignation.
Elisabeth and Prudence, however, have made it a point to distance themselves from the family business. Elisabeth left the media empire years ago in 2000, while Prudence is said to be the least involved in the business.
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