Rupert Murdoch ‘Succession’ court battle begins

A court battle to determine the future of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and a £14.9bn family trust begins in the US on Monday.

The case will pit 93-year-old Mr Murdoch against three of his eldest children over who will gain the most voting shares and power to control News Corp and Fox News when the billionaire dies.

It has been reported that Mr Murdoch wanted to amend a family trust created in 1999 so that son Lachlan could take control without “interference” from his siblings Prudence, Elisabeth and James.

The famous family was one of the inspirations behind the hugely popular TV series Succession – something the Murdochs have always refused to comment on.

Mr Murdoch, who has been married five times, also has two younger children, Grace and Chloe, who do not have any voting rights under the trust agreement.

From the 1960s, Mr Murdoch built up his media empire into a globe-spanning 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 had been preparing his two sons to follow in his footsteps, beginning when they were teens, journalist Andrew Neil told the 2020 BBC documentary The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty.

“Family has always been very important to Rupert Murdoch, particularly from the point of view of forming a dynasty,” the former Sunday Times editor said.

In 1999, the Murdoch Family Trust, which owns the media companies, was supposed to largely settle the succession plans.

It led to Mr Murdoch giving his eldest children various jobs within his companies.

The trust gives the family eight votes, which it can use to have a say on the board of News Corp and Fox News.

Mr Murdoch currently controls four of those votes, with his eldest children being in charge of one each.

The trust agreement said that once Mr Murdoch died, his votes would be passed on to his four eldest children equally.

However, differences in opinions and political views were said to lead to a family rift.

The media mogul stepped down as Fox and News Corp chairman in favour of Lachlan, who reportedly shares the same right-wing views as his father.

This has reportedly led to James, Elisabeth and Prudence uniting and “fighting back”.

The private court case is being held at Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada.

Prudence is Mr Murdoch’s eldest child, from his marriage to his first wife Patricia Booker.

He had Elisabeth, Lachlan and James with second wife Anna Mann, whom he was married to from 1967 to 1999.

Grace and Chloe’s mother is Wendi Deng, who was married to the billionaire from 1999 to 2013.

Mr Murdoch’s fourth marriage was to model Jerry Hall in 2016, with the couple divorcing in 2022.

He recently married his fifth wife Elena Zhukova in June this year.