Secret family battle for Murdoch empire revealed in sealed court documents: NYT
Source: CNN Business
Published 12:34 AM EDT, Thu July 25, 2024
CNN — The Murdoch family, famous for helming one of the world’s most influential news empires, is locked in a secret court battle over succession and control, according to a New York Times report citing sealed court documents.
For years, public intrigue has swirled around what would happen to the Murdoch assets after the death of patriarch Rupert Murdoch, 93, a powerful right-wing media mogul who has for years led Fox Corporation and News Corporation, which publishes The Wall Street Journal and New York Post.
The family’s vast empire is worth $19.5 billion, according to Forbes estimates – with its behind-the-scenes feuding believed to be the inspiration for the hit HBO series “Succession.” At the center of this latest battle is the Murdoch family trust, which holds key voting shares in both Fox Corp and News Corp. Rupert Murdoch’s four eldest children – Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence – share four votes in the trust equally.
But late last year, Rupert Murdoch filed a petition to amend the irrevocable family trust, hoping to instead grant exclusive control to his eldest son and chosen successor Lachlan, according to The Times. Lachlan has been closely aligned with his father for years, and took over as chair of Fox Corp and News Corp last September. Citing the court documents, which CNN has not independently seen, The Times reported that Murdoch was concerned that interference from his other three children – who are more politically moderate than Lachlan and their father – could influence the companies’ editorial stance.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/25/media/rupert-murdoch-family-trust-court-intl-hnk/index.html
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Concerned about the destructive potential of a dynastic succession fight, Ms. Mann insisted that the divorce settlement give the four children equal control over the empire, people close to the family have said. As part of their agreement, Mr. Murdoch locked this provision in place permanently through an irrevocable trust.
But Mr. Murdoch came to see that provision as untenable after he placed Lachlan in charge of Fox and News Corp in 2019. A primary source of the problem was his younger son, James, who had been passed over in favor of Lachlan. In recent years, people close to James and his wife Kathryn have said that after Mr. Murdoch’s death they would consider joining with Elisabeth and Prudence to wrest control from Lachlan and tame the companies’ wilder right wing instincts.
James and Lachlan shared operating responsibility for the companies from 2015 to 2019, a relationship that frayed during the Trump administration, as the two split over Fox’s fawning treatment of Mr. Trump. Lachlan and his father dismissed James’s concerns, pointing to the network’s record ratings. James left the business following Lachlan’s ascension to chairman and chief executive in 2019, and stepped down from the News Corp board in 2020, citing “disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company’s news outlets.”
Archived (no paywall) link: https://archive.ph/HwCWv
