A Nevada probate commissioner ruled last week against billionaire media scion Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to change his family’s trust in order to guarantee that his eldest son, Lachlan, would have broad control over his massive empire. Murdoch attempted to remove three of his less conservative children’s voting rights on the company’s board, stripping their power to potentially change Fox News' right-wing bent.
It’s a fascinating story Vanity Fair dubbed “perhaps the greatest setback in the 93-year-old mogul’s career.” And while many might have once yawned at the estate planning of the ultra wealthy, this private-turned-public succession drama is giving us a glimpse into the inner machinations of the one of the world’s richest families and corporate behemoths. It comes on the heels of “Succession,” HBO’s monumentally successful drama that ended last year and was based not-so-loosely on the Murdoch family.
