A Nevada commissioner has blocked Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to shake up his family trust in favor of his son, Lachlan. What led the commissioner to block the move and rule that the Fox head acted in “bad faith?” Kim Masters and Matt Belloni dive in.
Family feud? 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to update the family’s irrevocable trust comes as a play to keep Fox News conservative for the foreseeable future. “He wanted to ensure that Lachlan Murdoch, his ‘eldest boy,’ his fair-haired child — only metaphorically — would continue to run Fox News as the Conservative mouthpiece that it is.” Masters says. “The oldest child Prudence has stayed out of the business, mostly. James and Elizabeth are believed to be less conservative and could potentially move the channel in a different direction and Rupert didn't want that.”
In bad faith? Nevada commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr.’s decision to block Murdoch has been described as a “scathing ruling,” and attempts to overrule the decision will be a challenge for the Fox News founder. “The commissioner overseeing this called it a bad faith effort. He said it was a charade to install and enshrine Lachlan atop the company.” Belloni explains. “I mean, this was a very, very negative opinion for Rupert Murdoch. … That's important, because this will inevitably be appealed, and this judge has made findings of fact in this case, and it's going to be very tough to get this thing overruled.”
Life imitates art? Finding parallels between the Murdoch family and the Roy family from Succession takes no stretch of the imagination, and the family drama continues to resemble the beloved HBO series. “It's very interesting, because this entire trust exists as part of a settlement with Murdoch's second wife.” Belloni says. “They had the four adult children at the time, and they made this trust so that the four of them would have to work together to ensure the future of the company after Rupert dies. Now, this is all out war. You have the two siblings who are in the business who are clearly not aligned with Lachlan. You have this fourth wild card with Prudence, who seems to be on the side of the children that are objecting to Fox, and not just Fox, the other media properties as well.”