A Nevada court is set to hear Monday a succession dispute between powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch and four of his children, a case with far-reaching implications for the future of the media empire, including conservative-favorite Fox News.
Despite the request of a coalition of American media including the New York Times, which revealed the case, CNN and public radio NPR, the hearings will take place behind closed doors before a probate commissioner in a court in Reno, in the western American state.
At the centre of the battle is 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch’s plan to change the terms of the family trust to hand control of his empire, including the News Corporation and Fox Corporation groups, present in the United States, Great Britain and Australia, to his eldest son Lachlan after his death.
In a plot worthy of the TV series “Succession”, partly inspired by the family history, three other children of Rupert Murdoch, James, Prudence and Elisabeth, contested this project, because the trust originally provided for equal voting rights for the four descendants.
For many observers, the affair will have serious implications for the future of the empire left by Rupert Murdoch, accused of having, through some of his newspapers and television channels, encouraged the rise of populism in Anglo-Saxon countries, symbolised by Brexit in the United Kingdom and the rise of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States in 2016.
Lachlan Murdoch is considered to be closer to the conservative line of his father, who has already handed over to him in the fall of 2023 to lead News Corp and Fox Corporation, while his three brothers and sisters are considered more centrist.
James Murdoch, who left News Corp in 2020, has officially given his support to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
According to the New York Times, which has had access to excerpts from the file, Rupert Murdoch’s lawyers “argued that he was trying to protect James, Elisabeth and Prudence by ensuring that they would not be able to moderate Fox’s policies or disrupt its operations through incessant struggles for leadership,” the newspaper wrote.
In a preliminary decision, the probate commissioner did not oppose a modification of the trust, but he is due to hear arguments from all parties this week. He will then make his recommendations.
News Corp, which is worth more than ten billion dollars in turnover in 2023, is present in publishing with HarperCollins and in the media in the United States (The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, New York Post), in the United Kingdom (The Sun, The Times) and in Australia (The Australian).
Fox Corporation is the parent company of Fox News.
