Succession drama: Rupert Murdoch loses court bid to leave son media empire
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Rupert Murdoch at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, 2013. Photo: Drew Angerer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Nevada commissioner has ruled against Rupert Murdoch's legal attempt to alter his family trust so that his eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will control the family's media and business empire when he dies, the NYT reports.
Why it matters: Barring a successful appeal, the decision ensures Murdoch's media empire will be left equally to his four oldest children, who are not all ideologically aligned with the conservative views of Rupert and Lachlan.
- Notably, James Murdoch — once considered a contender to take over the family business — resigned from the board of News Corp. in 2020, citing disagreements over editorial content published by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
Zoom in: Commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr. ruled against Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, arguing they acted in "bad faith" by trying to alter the terms of the trust, according to the NYT, which obtained a copy of the sealed court document.
- Media outlets petitioned for access to the closed-door trial but were ultimately denied by a judge who argued that the matter should be litigated privately and that the high-profile nature of the trial presented security risks.
- The trial concluded in September.
- A spokesperson for Fox Corp. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The big picture: Changing the trust would have ensured that Lachlan could continue to carry out Fox Corp.'s strategy of catering to conservative audiences.
- The trust, established in 1999, was created as a compromise amid Rupert Murdoch's divorce from his second wife, Anna Torv Murdoch Mann.
- Lachlan and his three siblings — Elisabeth, James and Prudence — are equal beneficiaries of the trust, which has roughly 40% of voting stakes in News Corp. and Fox Corp.
- Rupert Murdoch, 93, stepped down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp. last year and named Lachlan as his corporate successor.
The intrigue: Murdoch's children started doing secret PR planning for how to handle their father's death last year after an episode of "Succession," the HBO series that draws on the Murdoch family drama, according to The Times.
- In that episode, the patriarch dies and chaos ensues for the family and for the business.
What's next: Rupert Murdoch's lawyer told The Times he plans to appeal the decision.
