Media titan Rupert Murdoch is 93, so thoughts have inevitably turned to the next iteration of his News Corp boardroom. A new report has revealed that Murdoch is seemingly in a legal dispute with his children over who will take over his media empire when he dies.
As first reported by The New York Times , Murdoch is "locked in a secret legal battle against three of his children over the future of the family's media empire." In a rift that is reminiscent of HBO's smash-hit TV series "Succession," Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan are fighting it out in the courts to make sure the latter is able to control News Corp, the holding company of brands like The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Fox Corp and others. But three of Murdoch's other children are looking to take control of their own, and are now fighting back.
What is the crux of the legal battle?
Murdoch is allegedly attempting to "preserve [his media empire] as a conservative political force," said the Times. Currently, his family trust " hands control of the family business to the four oldest children when Mr. Murdoch dies." However, Murdoch is reportedly attempting to change the terms of the trust to ensure that Lachlan alone "would remain in charge of his vast collection of television networks and newspapers," arguing that "only by empowering Lachlan to run the company without interference from his more politically moderate siblings can he preserve its conservative editorial bent."
As a result, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are battling the other three children — James, Elisabeth and Prudence Murdoch — in a Reno, Nevada, court. A probate commissioner in the city "found last month that the family's irrevocable trust can be rewritten if Murdoch can prove he is acting in good faith to protect the value of the trust's holdings," said The Guardian . This is likely why Murdoch is pushing hard to hand sole control to his eldest son, as "Lachlan Murdoch is seen as the most conservative of Murdoch's children and his father is arguing that his political beliefs are essential to maintaining the value of the right-leaning media company."
James, Elisabeth and Prudence, who were "said to have been blindsided by the move, have reportedly hired their own legal team to contest their father's plans," said Fortune . A trial in the case is supposedly set to begin in September.
How could this affect the Murdoch family?
Any "restructuring of the trust would have significant implications for decision-making at the top of the Murdoch empire, including any major mergers or other strategic transactions News Corp and Fox pursue," said The Wall Street Journal . The patriarch "has always sought to keep his media enterprise in the family's hands, and he brought several of his children into the business over the years." Murdoch also "dubbed Lachlan 'first among equals,'" said the Journal. The family battle has become so infamous that Murdoch himself is "widely believed to be the inspiration for the character of Logan Roy" in the aforementioned TV show "Succession," said CNN .
Lachlan's brother James in particular has expressed opinions that are different from most News Corp brands, especially when it comes to the outlet Lachlan currently helms, Fox News . There are "views I really disagree with on Fox," James said to The New Yorker in 2019. James eventually left his seat on News Corps' board of directors because of his "disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company's news outlets and certain other strategic decisions," he said in his resignation letter.
Murdoch's other children have also been on the outskirts; Elisabeth and Prudence "made it a point to distance themselves from the family business," as "Elisabeth left the media empire years ago in 2000, while Prudence is said to be the least involved in the business," said Business Insider .
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