Figure: Control of the Murdoch family’s war media empire

US media reported on the 24th that the 93-year-old Australian media tycoon Murdoch is in a secret legal battle with his three children. Murdoch tried to modify the terms of the family trust fund to give control of his media empire to his eldest son Lachlan; the other three children James, Elizabeth and Prudence were strongly dissatisfied with this and joined forces to resist. This incident caused tension in Murdoch’s family. When he married his fifth wife Zhukova in June this year, James, Elizabeth and Prudence did not attend the wedding.

[Ta Kung Pao News]The New York Times disclosed on the 24th that according to a sealed court document obtained by the newspaper, Murdoch wanted to ensure that the family media business maintained its conservative political orientation after his death, and he launched a legal battle with his three children for this purpose. Murdoch controls a family trust fund, which holds a large number of shares of the Murdoch family in News Corporation and Fox. News Corporation is the parent company of media such as The Wall Street Journal, and Fox is the parent company of Fox News. According to the terms of the trust, after Murdoch’s death, control of the family business will be transferred to his four oldest children, Lachlan, James, Elizabeth and Prudence. They will have equal say.

However, Murdoch suddenly proposed to amend the terms of the trust at the end of last year to concentrate control in Lachlan’s hands. This move caught James and others off guard. They strongly opposed Murdoch’s decision and joined forces to resist, accusing Murdoch of trying to deprive them of their rights and violating the “equal governance clause” of the trust. It is reported that this secret legal battle within the Murdoch family is taking place in the Nevada Probate Court and is expected to go to trial in September this year.

Or influence public opinion during the US election

According to the New York Times, Murdoch’s family trust is an irrevocable trust that cannot be changed or revoked without the permission of the beneficiaries; however, it contains a clause that allows “good faith changes” for the purpose of protecting the interests of all beneficiaries. Murdoch said that only by allowing Lachlan to run the family business alone without interference from his brothers and sisters with more moderate political inclinations can the conservative political inclination of the Murdoch media empire be ensured, thereby maintaining its commercial value. He is worried that the differences in his children’s political positions will affect the company’s strategic decisions, and expressed his hope to give Lachlan “permanent and exclusive control” over the family business.

Murdoch resigned as chairman of News Corporation and Fox in November last year. Lachlan inherited his father’s business and became the sole chairman of News Corporation. He also serves as the executive chairman and CEO of Fox. If he controls the family trust exclusively, heavyweight American media such as The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and The New York Post will be led by him. It is reported that after Murdoch proposed to modify the terms of the trust, he met with Elizabeth and Prudence in London, England, hoping to get their support, but both of them were angry about it, and Elizabeth responded with a “string of curses.”

The Murdoch family has previously split over disputes over succession, but now that Murdoch is old, this legal battle may be his “last battle.” This year is a U.S. presidential election year, and Murdoch’s media generally support the Republican Party. Whether this family civil war will affect news and public opinion during the election has attracted attention from the outside world.

Father and son fell out over political stance

Lachlan’s political stance is close to Murdoch’s, while James appears to be “rebellious”. James was once regarded as Murdoch’s successor, but left the News Corp board in 2020, citing “disagreements with certain editorial content and other strategic decisions published by the company’s news organizations” as the reason for his resignation. Murdoch supports the Republican Party, but James donated to the Democratic candidate Biden’s camp during the 2020 US election. People familiar with the matter said that James and his wife Catherine are particularly worried about Fox News going to extremes in the Trump era. In addition, James and Catherine are both environmentalists and have condemned the family media for being skeptical about climate change.

Murdoch has grown impatient with James’ complaints. In internal communications, Murdoch’s representatives referred to James as a “beneficiary of trouble,” according to court documents.

Elizabeth held a number of positions at News Corp before founding TV production company Shine, which she sold to the company in 2011. She later founded production company Sister. Prudence has played a relatively low-profile role.

(The New York Times/The Wall Street Journal)