Locked in a fight over patriarch Rupert’s right-wing global media empire, the Murdoch clan is battling to keep its succession feud in ironclad legal secrecy. So secret, in fact, that their legal squabbles don’t even appear on a public court schedule.
That could soon change.
In July, The New York Times reported that 93-year-old Murdoch filed a petition late last year to amend the family trust to grant exclusive control to his eldest son and anointed successor, 52-year-old Lachlan. Before that, equal voting shares were supposed to be awarded to his eldest four children.
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The three siblings left out in the cold—James, Elisabeth, and Prudence—were reportedly blindsided by their father’s Shakespearean betrayal and teamed up to stop him and their brother.
The Nevada probate commissioner, the Times reported, found in June that Murdoch can proceed with the amendment to the family trust if he can show he is acting in good faith and in the best interest of his heirs.
Rupert is said to believe conservative Kool-Aid drinker Lachlan, unlike his more moderate siblings, is uniquely equipped to run the family media empire because he will maintain its unabashed conservative worldview.
Last September, he was appointed chairman of News Corporation and Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, after his father stepped down. While Lachlan’s Fox initially flirted with Trump alternatives like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the network pivoted back to supporting Donald Trump when it became clear he would win the Republican nomination.
Documents the Times reviewed showed Rupert is arguing that handing control to anyone else would threaten the brands and their commercial value, thus making the crowning of Lachlan the most sage business decision.
James, in particular, has fallen far from the conservative family tree, donating tens of millions to progressive causes.
A trial to determine whether Murdoch is acting in good faith is expected to start sometime this month, according to the Times but even the most basic details of the family’s legal fisticuffs have been kept under seal in Nevada.
On Wednesday, the newspaper joined the Associated Press, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, Reuters, and CNN in filing a motion in the state’s Second Judicial District Court to pry open the proceedings.
“Nevada’s courts are accountable to the public, and the public is entitled to know whether the trust at issue is being administered in accordance with the law,” the motion reads.
