HBO’s Succession looks more and more like the House Of Murdoch, where Patriarch Rupert is fighting with three of his adult children over who will control the family media empire when he passes.
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An irrevocable trust in place for years would hand control to four of them — Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence. But Murdoch the elder is trying to change that by ensuring that Lachlan, the current CEO of Fox, would remain in charge, according to a story in the New York Times. That’s created a rift with the other three siblings, who are trying to block him.
Prudence is Murdoch’s eldest daughter from his first wife, Patricia Booke. Lachlan, Elisabeth and James are his children from Anna Torv. Rupet Murdoch, 93, had two children with his third wife, Wendi Deng, who have an economic interest in the trust but no voting control.
The NYT says Murdoch is seeking the change to avoid infighting. He fears his more liberal leaning offspring might attempt to oust Lachlan and change the company’s editorial direction. They could do that, with three votes to Lachlan’s one. Rupert believes that would destroy the significant economic value that rests in Fox, and that retaining that value is in the best interest of all of his heirs.
According to a probate document viewed by the Times, the process is underway. The trust is irrevocable but a Nevada probate commissioner found that there’s a window for it to be altered it if Murdoch is acting in good faith and seeking change for the benefit of all heirs.
He says he is doing just that. His other three children disagree and have engaged Gary A. Bornstein, the co-head of litigation at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, to represent them. Only Lachlan attended Murdoch’s recent wedding to his fifth wife in California.
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So did Bill Barr, the times said, an attorney general under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Donald Trump, whom Murdoch recently appointed as one of his personal representatives on the trust, said the NYT.
The trust controls Fox News and Fox Television parent Fox Corp. and News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and other high profile publications in the UK and Australia.
Succession at News Corp. has been a juicy source of gossip for years with Lachlan and James running the company together at one point. Elisabeth has also worked in the family business. But James detached, said to be unhappy with the direction of Fox News, which leaned even more heavily to the right under President Trump. He launched an investment firm called Lupa, whose assets include Tribeca Festival parent Tribeca Enterprises.
Elisabeth has had a successful career in television production and most recently co-founded and is the executive chair of global content company Sister.
Fox referred a query on the current situation to law firm Sheppard Mullin, which has not yet responded.
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