The real-life “Succession” battle for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has ended with a Nevada court commissioner denying the billionaire’s bid to alter the family trust and hand over control for his eldest son.
The case pitted the 93-year-old man against his three children over who would take control of News Corp and Fox News when he died.
It has been reported that Mr Murdoch wants to amend the family trust established in 1999 to allow his son Lachlan to take control without “interference” from the Prudence siblings, Elisabeth and James.
A Nevada commissioner ruled Mr Murdoch and Lachlan acted “with malice” and called the efforts a “carefully orchestrated charade”. according to the New York Times.
In a statement, Prudence spokesperson Elisabeth and James said: “We welcome Commissioner Gorman’s decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuild relationships between all family members.”
Adam Streisand, Mr. Murdoch’s lawyer, told the New York Times that they were disappointed and planned to appeal.
The BBC has contacted Mr Streisand for comment.
This famous family was one of the inspirations behind the hugely popular television series Succession – something the Murdoch family has always refused to comment on.
However, according to a New York Times report, based on a sealed copy of the court ruling, the billionaire’s children have begun discussing their father’s death and how they will handle it after a series of episodes. of the HBO series in which “the family patriarch dies, throwing his family and business into chaos”.
The report said the episode prompted Elisabeth’s representatives to the trust to write a “‘Succession’ memo” that sought to prevent this from happening in real life.
Mr Murdoch, who has been married five times and has two young children, Grace and Chloe, does not have any voting rights under the trust agreement.
The case was prosecuted after Mr. Murdoch decided to change the trust fund due to concerns about “lack of consensus” between the children, the Times reported.
Lachan is said to be more conservative than his siblings and will preserve his media brand legacy.
Since the 1960s, Mr. Murdoch has built his media empire into a global media giant with major political and public influence.
His two companies are News Corporation, which owns newspapers including the Times and the Sun in the UK and the Wall Street Journal in the US, and Fox, which broadcasts Fox News.
Mr. Murdoch groomed his two sons to follow in his footsteps, starting when they were teenagers, journalist Andrew Neil told the BBC’s 2020 documentary The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty.
“Family has always been very important to Rupert Murdoch, especially from the perspective of forming a dynasty,” said the former Sunday Times editor.
In 1999, the Murdoch Family Trust, which owns media companies, was expected to handle much of the succession planning.
It led to Mr. Murdoch giving his older children various jobs in his companies.
The trust gives the family eight votes, which they can use to have a say on the boards of News Corp and Fox News.
Mr. Murdoch currently controls four of those votes, with his eldest children each responsible for one vote.
The trust agreement said that once Mr Murdoch died, his votes would be transferred equally to his four eldest children.
However, differences in opinions and political views are said to be the cause of family rifts.
The fight to change the trust is not about money but about power and control over the future of the Murdoch empire.
The commissioner’s ruling is not final, the Times reported. Applying to the court acts as a recommended solution but the district judge will still consider it and may choose to decide otherwise.
Additional reporting by Michelle Fleury and Charlotte Edwards
