The long-standing battle over succession in Rupert Murdoch’s extensive media empire concluded on September 8 with the family’s announcement that Lachlan Murdoch, his eldest son, will take the reins following Rupert’s death. In an official statement, News Corp declared, “The leadership, vision, and management by the company’s chair, Lachlan Murdoch, will continue to be important to guiding the company’s strategy and success.”
Lachlan, currently the chairman of News Corp-parent to numerous influential publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and The Times in the UK-also serves as executive chairman of Fox, which operates Fox News. This transition guarantees that Lachlan’s eldest siblings-James, Elisabeth, and Prudence-will each receive $1.1 billion for their shares in the business, all while maintaining the conservative tilt of the media conglomerate; Lachlan is perceived as the most conservative among Murdoch’s eldest children.
The Murdoch media empire is vast. Keith Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-born American businessman, has held control over News Corporation (News Corp) and Fox Corporation (Fox Corp), among other global media entities. Born in 1931 to journalist Keith Murdoch and Elisabeth, Rupert inherited News Corp Australia at the age of 21 after his father’s death. He skillfully expanded the business, acquiring struggling newspapers in Australia and the UK during the 1950s and 1960s and pioneering what is recognized as tabloid culture today. His U.S. expansion began in 1973, leading to his purchase of The New York Post in 1976. Rupert became a U.S. citizen in 1985 and founded Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986.
Throughout the years, Murdoch has been embroiled in numerous scandals, including the 2005 phone-tapping incident in the UK. In 2023, Fox paid about $800 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Systems over misleading claims affecting the company’s reputation during the 2020 presidential election. Recently, former President Donald Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for a story that hinted at his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Murdoch’s outlets have significantly shaped public opinion; for instance, The Sun and The Daily Mail have been critical in fostering anti-EU sentiments in their reporting. The present succession conflict stems from Rupert’s desire to revise the Murdoch trust established in 1999 during his divorce from Anna de Peyster. This trust was designed to equally distribute his voting shares among his four eldest children: Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James. Though intended to be “irrevocable,” it contained a clause allowing Rupert to modify it as long as he acted in the best interests of his heirs.
In recent years, Rupert Murdoch has increasingly aligned ideologically with Lachlan, particularly during Trump’s presidency, when Fox News adopted a far-right stance and backed false claims of a “stolen election” in 2020. This shift estranged the other Murdoch siblings, who generally exhibit more centrist views. James had long been seen as Rupert’s successor but resigned from the board of News Corp in July 2020 after sharing operational duties with Lachlan.
Reports indicate that Rupert and Lachlan worked for months to alter the trust arrangement to diminish the influence of James, Elisabeth, and Prudence over the business. They feared that differing views could lead to power struggles within the family. This tension escalated into a court case in Nevada last September, where the probate commissioner ruled in December that Rupert had acted in “bad faith” by empowering only Lachlan to manage the company.
The new agreement ensures that Lachlan will control a new trust that also includes his younger half-sisters, Chloe and Grace, children from Rupert’s marriage to Wendy Deng. This trust will manage controlling stakes in News Corp and Fox Corporation. In turn, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James will benefit from a separate trust funded by the sale of approximately 14.2 million shares of News Corp and 16.9 million shares of Fox Corp. While this arrangement will enhance their financial portfolios, it will also prevent them from influencing the political direction of the family’s media businesses.
Original Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/lachlan-murdoch-heir-media-empire-rupert-succession-10239386/
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Publish Date: 2025-09-09 15:47:00
