Rupert Murdoch is in a secretive legal battle with three of his children to push them out of his News Corp and Fox media empires and hand control to his conservative son Lachlan, it has been reported.
Murdoch went to court last year in a bid to increase Lachlan’s voting power at the expense of his three other children, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence, who have grown uncomfortable with the media empire’s rightward shift, The New York Times reported.
The billionaire, alongside Lachlan, is arguing a “lack of consensus” will disrupt Fox’s and News Corp’s strategic direction, according to court documents reviewed by the publication.
Murdoch’s three other children, who are said to have been blindsided by the move, have reportedly hired their own legal team to contest their father’s plans.
Under a Nevada probate, where the battle is playing out, Lachlan will gain more control of the empire if he and his father can indeed prove the dramatic shift to voting rights is in the best interests of his organization.
A trial is expected to begin in September.
Representatives for Murdoch didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Succession battle
Lachlan is the chairman of Murdoch’s News Corp, which operates titles such as The Times, The Sun, and the Wall Street Journal. He is also CEO of the Fox Corporation.
Lachlan was asked to head up Murdoch’s new Fox brand after he sold 21st Century Fox to Disney for $71.3 billion in 2019.
His appointment to the role, which occurred during Donald Trump’s presidency, was a formal handover of power to his most conservative son.
It appeared to end a tense succession battle that also saw James and Elisabeth vying for the top job. The pair are reported to have become increasingly uncomfortable with Fox’s shift further to the right during Trump’s reign.
However, because Murdoch’s four children have an equal say in how the company is run, the Australian billionaire is now trying to push out his other children.
Each of Murdoch’s kids will get a single vote when Murdoch dies, a legacy of a divorce settlement between Murdoch and his second wife Anna Murdoch Mann, who is the mother of James, Elisabeth, and Prudence.
Speaking in 2006, Murdoch said: “If I go under a bus tomorrow, it will be the four of them who will have to decide which of the ones should lead them.”
James and Elisabeth have gone onto their own projects as Lachlan ascended the News Corp empire. James manages an investment fund and Elisabeth a film studio.
However, they appear to have no intention of giving up their voice in determining how their father and Lachlan run the organization.
The New York Times reports that the battle has left Murdoch estranged from three of his kids. While Lachlan attended Murdoch’s wedding in June to his fifth wife Elena Zhukova, his other children stayed away.
Murdoch’s waning influence
Murdoch, 93, is struggling to maintain influence over his company and, more importantly, the right-leaning conservative spectrum on which he made his billions.
In the U.K., Murdoch’s The Sun and The Times of London, once kingmakers in British elections, are struggling to lobby in the same way they did at the turn of the century.
The Times of London didn’t back Prime Minister Kier Starmer before his Labour Party won a landslide victory in May, while The Sun was only mildly supportive after years of backing the Conservative Party.
In March, Murdoch shuttered TalkTV, his answer to Fox News in the U.K., after it failed to attract an audience.
The Sun made losses of £66 million last year amid falling newspaper sales and the continued fallout of a long-running phone hacking scandal.
In the U.S., Murdoch has likewise struggled to wield the power he once did.
Speaking at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr., said the GOP no longer had to “bend the knee” to Murdoch.
Trump’s appointment of J.D. Vance as his running mate for the Presidential election in November was regarded as a win for Donald Jr. in a tussle with Murdoch.
Fox News was a pivotal platform for Trump amid his surprise run to the Oval Office, but he has had a tense personal relationship with Murdoch.
While gaining new powers to cater to his polarised right-leaning audience could be the answer to his woes, Murdoch will first have to play out an ugly public battle with most of his children.
