Rupert Murdoch has pulled one final rabbit out of his hat. The 94-year-old media titan has ensured that his vast corporate empire — boasting Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post among other titles — will retain its quintessential conservative identity after his death.
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Through a series of complex transactions, Murdoch and his son Lachlan — his intended heir — have struck a deal to buy out the shares of Lachlan’s three eldest siblings: Prudence, Elisabeth and James. Lachlan is now set to control both his father’s companies, Fox Corp. and News Corp., after the elder Murdoch’s death. Each is to receive $1.1 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge who spoke on condition of anonymity, as precise details of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed.
In recent years, James had become an increasingly outspoken critic of the direction of Fox News and other Murdoch news outlets, including the Journal and News Corp.’s Australian papers. He particularly cited coverage of the January 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol, Fox’s support for President Trump and the frequent disparagement of climate change on Fox and in the company’s Australian papers.
Elisabeth and Prudence had also felt betrayed by the decision of Rupert and Lachlan to sue them and James without warning in a probate court in Reno, Nevada, to try to sever them from any influence over the company’s future.
The old Murdoch family trust will be dissolved, under terms of this settlement. A new one will be created, with Lachlan in full control. Murdoch’s two youngest daughters, Grace and Chloe, from his third marriage to Wendi Deng, will be equal financial beneficiaries, but have no say. Murdoch divorced Deng in 2013.
To help fund the payments, the Murdoch companies are selling shares currently worth more than $1.4 billion. That means the percentage of voting shares held by the new family trust has been diluted, from roughly 40% to around one-third in both Fox Corp. and News Corp.
News Corp. and Fox Corp. declined comment for themselves and Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch, citing the pending transaction. A spokesperson for James Murdoch similarly declined comment and representatives of the other siblings could not be reached.
The settlement had been a long time in coming.
James had been Lachlan’s chief rival for corporate control for a generation. And he has been restive about the abilities of Lachlan to lead their family’s companies into the future, without the singular drive of their father.
Rupert Murdoch decided on Lachlan, who shares his conservative outlook; if anything, the son is considered more ideological than his father. Both men argued that, after the media mogul’s death, the company would need stability in the top leadership ranks and consistency in its core conservative principles to retain the loyalty of its audiences.
Under Lachlan and Rupert’s leadership, the Wall Street Journal emerged as a financial powerhouse; Fox similarly has been a strong performer. Yet the latter’s reports and commentary have sparked a series of scandals in recent years. The latest involves a defamation suit from an election software company called Smartmatic. Fox stars amplified and embraced conspiracy theories that it helped throw the 2020 race to Joe Biden. (Fox says it was simply covering newsworthy allegations.)
The original family trust gave the four children from Rupert Murdoch’s first and second marriages equal financial stakes and votes in determining their companies’ future, however. That was the condition set by Rupert’s second wife, Anna, when he divorced her, allowing him to avoid having to hand over half his net worth to her. (He instead paid her $110 million.)
The trust was irrevocable. Yet Murdoch sought to have it revoked — erasing the reason for the trust in the first place. A Nevada state probate official ruled that Rupert and Lachlan had acted in bad faith; their prospects looked rocky on appeal.
Rupert Murdoch has built a record and a reputation for ruthlessness. When things are dire, however, Murdoch also has a record of paying out. For example, Murdoch gave his four eldest children an extra $100 million when he decided to give Grace and Chloe an equal financial stake.
Murdoch’s British papers paid Hugh Grant and Prince Harry and 1,300 other litigants more than $1.5 billion to settle claims of people alleging phone hacking or other criminal intrusions of their privacy.
Now, he has sued for peace by cashing three of his children out of the family business. But it is a brittle peace. James and Rupert almost never speak.
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