Rupert Murdoch put his nepo babies to the ultimate test. After closing on the sale of Fox entertainment assets to Disney in spring 2019, the media titan—who’s worth an estimated $10.4 billion— asked his four oldest children to give him upward of $100 million from their respective payouts, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. The Fox sale netted $12 billion to be split among the children.
But only three of them obliged. Lachlan, Elisabeth, and Prudence each gave the patriarch the money as a “sign of respect for the fortune he had earned over the years,” according to the WSJ. But James, one of the younger sons who had regularly had beef with his father over differing political and business-related views, refused.
The entire transaction was quite odd, considering how Rupert Murdoch has gone to great lengths to ensure his children acquire his fortune when he dies. But Rupert has reportedly shown preference for Lachlan, the eldest son, and wants him to inherit his entire media empire. Through its trust, the Murdoch family controls both Fox Corp and News Corp. Fox owns Fox News, all 29 Fox TV stations, Fox Sports, and other Fox subsidiaries. News Corp owns WSJ, The Times, the New York Post, and right-leaning local papers. Lachlan currently serves as executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp and is thought to be politically aligned with his father, unlike the other children.
News Corp responded to Fortune’s request for comment saying all questions on the matter should be directed to Adam F. Streisand, a trial attorney with SheppardMullen. Streisand’s biography page cheekily reads “If you’ve seen it on HBO’s ‘Succession,’ Adam Streisand has litigated it (and much more) in real life,” a nod to the show that’s been deeply compared to the Murdoch family drama. There is no direct mention of litigating for the Murdochs on his page, however, and Streisand did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment. Fox Corp did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
The drama with James
James started distancing himself from the media empire—and his father—after serving as CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019. In 2020, he resigned from the board of News Corp, and an article by The Independent that year revealed a toxic work environment at the company and a growing estrangement from his father.
“I just felt increasingly uncomfortable with my position on the board having some disagreements over how certain decisions are being made,” James told The Independent. “So it was actually not that hard a decision to remove myself and have a kind of cleaner slate.”
James and his father butt heads so much, in fact, that Rupert, 93, is seeking to amend his trust to make sure Lachlan will be the one with the power after his death. James is pushing back, and allegedly has Elisabeth and Prudence on his side, according to the WSJ. On Monday, a trial to settle the dispute will begin in a probate court in Nevada, where the Murdoch Family Trust is based. It’ll be a closed-door trial, and court documents are currently sealed.
If Lachlan and Rupert prevail, then the former will have the “same sweeping authority his father has enjoyed for years,” according to the WSJ, and “other shareholders would largely have to accept whatever his plans are for the companies.”
If he loses, though, the structure could lead to stalemates among the siblings, affecting major decisions at the companies. The siblings reportedly clash, with “widely differing worldviews, which collectively, could be paralyzing to the strategic direction of the company,” Starboard Value said in a shareholder letter this week. The activist investor pushed for the demise of the dual-class share structure that gives the Murdochs control of News Corp.
Plus, James might decide to sell Fox News if he has a say, people close to the Murdochs told WSJ.
“This is a very consequential amendment in a very consequential trust,” Michael Arlein, a trust and estates lawyer, told WSJ.
