The yearslong succession battle over News Corporation is coming to an end, with the media company announcing Monday that the beneficiaries of the Murdoch Family Trust reached a “mutual resolution.”
The termination of the litigation created new trusts for News Corp Executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch, the eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, and Grace and Chloe Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s daughters from his marriage to Wendi Deng Murdoch. The three children will own all of the remaining News Corp and Fox Corporation shares previously held by the Murdoch Family Trust.
Lachlan Murdoch will also have voting control over News Corp and Fox Corporation shares through his appointed managing director. News Corp owns the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal as part of its assets, while Fox Corporation is the parent company of Fox News.
Rupert Murdoch, 94, will continue as chairman emeritus.
Rupert Murdoch’s three other children, Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch, and James Murdoch, will no longer be beneficiaries in any trust holding shares in either News Corp or Fox Corporation. They will instead receive cash considerations, partially funded by proceeds from the public sale of around 14.2 million shares of News Corp Class B common stock and around 16.9 million shares of Fox Corporation Class B common stock.
Lachlan Murdoch, 54, took over as head of News Corp and Fox Corporation in 2023 after his father stepped down. Lachlan Murdoch’s politics are unclear, though he delivered a speech to a conservative think tank in Australia in 2022. The speech focused on his belief that elites oppose traditional values, as well as criticizing pandemic-era shutdowns and censoring the infamous 2020 report on the Hunter Biden laptop.
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The Murdoch family’s succession battle was the main inspiration for HBO’s Succession. The show focuses on Logan Roy and his four adult children feuding over who will control Roy’s company, the global media conglomerate Waystar Royco.
Rupert Murdoch reached an agreement with President Donald Trump last month to postpone Murdoch’s deposition in a $20 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal. Trump sued the outlet over a story about his connection to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
