This war for Rupert Murdoch’s worldwide media empire is about to take place in the world’s largest little city.
According to reports, 93-year-old billionaire newspaper baron Rupert Murdoch wants to change the rules of an irreversible trust so that his oldest son Lachlan would take over his reign and maintain ownership of valuable properties like The Wall Street Journal and Fox News.
However, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence, the mogul’s other three children, are resisting, arguing that each of the four siblings should still have an equal vote share.
Next week, a judge will hear the family dispute in the Washoe County Courthouse in Reno, Nevada, but the proceedings and case files are hidden from public view. The Second Judicial District Court’s Alicia L. Lerud, an administrator, verified to NBC News that the Murdoch case is under seal and “confidential pursuant to court order.” (The Reno probate court often handles estates and family trusts.)
But at the end of July, The New York Times released a piece outlining some of the main points of the case, which was based on a copy of a secret court record. NBC News has not seen the paper for itself or verified its veracity. NBC News reached out to both the three siblings’ attorney, Gary A. Bornstein, and their father’s attorney, Adam Streisand, but neither of them returned calls seeking comment.
Murdoch is among the most significant and potent media moguls of the contemporary era. He transformed a little Australian newspaper company into a powerful empire of cable and broadcast television networks. The gem in the crown continues to be Fox News, a mainstay of the American conservative movement and the place where prominent opinion hosts who support former President Donald Trump fervently live.
The Murdoch family’s palace intrigue has frequently lent itself to rapt public curiosity, serving as the impetus for behind-the-scenes novels and the HBO series “Succession.”
Political conflicts and how they may affect the future of the family’s vast media empire are some of the factors dividing the family. Lachlan Murdoch, who succeeded his father as chairman of News Corp. and Fox Corp. in September of last year, leans more toward the conservative viewpoint.
Politically speaking, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James Murdoch are thought to be more moderate. According to Federal Election Commission records, James Murdoch has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic state parties and congressional candidates, and he has backed Vice President Kamala Harris’s bid for the presidency.
The senior Murdoch thinks the “lack of consensus” among the four children “would impact the strategic direction at both companies including a potential reorientation of editorial policy and content,” according to The Times, which cited the court filing. In an effort to “consolidate decision-making power in Lachlan’s hands and give him permanent, exclusive control,” the billionaire submitted a petition to modify the trust.
According to a copy of the 48-page ruling obtained by The Times, Nevada’s probate commissioner determined in June that Murdoch may modify the irrevocable trust provided the wealthy patriarch could show he was acting in good faith and only for the benefit of his heirs. (Murdoch’s other two children, from his third of five marriages, are both in their early 20s.)
If Lachlan Murdoch maintains ownership of the company’s assets, Fox News’ opinion programming is expected to remain firmly conservative and have a significant impact on Republican politics.
In recent years, Fox News has been closely associated with Donald Trump. Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit against the corporation after it made unfounded allegations of vote-rigging following the 2020 election. After reaching a settlement of $787.5 million, a jury trial was about to begin.
“Lachlan appears to be the only sibling who can thread that needle for Rupert Murdoch, who has always been good at harmonizing his business interests and his ideological goals,” according to Reece Peck, an associate professor of media culture at the City University of New York-College of Staten Island and the author of “Fox Populism: Branding Conservatism as Working Class.”
The succession drama, which is a real-life hybrid of prestige TV and “King Lear,” is expected to pique the interest of major figures in the fields of corporate power, politics, entertainment, and media. This is one of the reasons for the recent appeal that a number of prominent news organizations filed to provide the public access to the confidential hearings.
According to a legal filing shared with NBC News by a Times spokesperson, six news organizations, including The Associated Press, CNN, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Reuters, and The Washington Post, joined together “seeking access to court proceedings and the unsealing of, and access to, court records and filings and in this matter.”
Part of the letter states, “The public has an interest in ensuring that public courts administer justice in a proper, impartial manner, and the fate of the Murdoch Family’s enormous fortune and vast media empire is a matter of immense public interest.”
The efforts of national newsrooms to increase transparency surrounding the Murdoch proceedings are not unique. A supporter of courtroom access, software developer Alex Falconi of Nevada, submitted a petition of his own to Washoe County Judge David Hardy asking for the installation of a camera in the courtroom. (The news website Puck was the first to report about Faconi’s endeavor.)
In an email, Falconi stated that although “trust cases are usually of no interest to the public, this case presents a rare opportunity to show Nevadans how trust cases work due to the high level of public interest.”
Because court judges and officials are prohibited by the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct from commenting on “individual matters pending before the Court,” Lerud, the court administrator, stated she was unable to respond to Falconi’s petition.
Whether Falconi’s petition had been properly denied was unclear. Falconi stated that if his plea is turned down, he would submit an emergency petition.
At the very least, the Second Judicial District Court intends to provide the public with updates on the case through a webpage that highlights significant trial dates. According to the page, there will be an evidentiary hearing on September 16 at 9 a.m. local time, after a status conference on Tuesday at 1 p.m. local time.
But because the page lacks names or other identifying information, an indifferent reader would never realize it dealt with one of the most powerful families in American media. Here, the “Doe 1 Trust” is the key to the Murdoch kingdom.
