Rupert Murdoch’s family has reached a deal that will see his conservative son Lachlan cement control of his media empire.
The agreement ends a bitter Succession-style dispute that had pitted the Murdoch siblings against each other in an American court, and it means Rupert’s media outlets are likely to retain their right-wing bent after his death.
The feud was sparked by a plan to change the Murdoch family trust to hand control of the family’s companies to Lachlan when Rupert, 94, dies.
The plan required a rewrite of the trust’s “irrevocable” terms, which would have evenly divided control of Fox Corporation and News Corporation between Rupert’s oldest children.
James, Elisabeth and Prudence Murdoch opposed the move, and the dispute went before a court in Nevada last year.Â
Now, a Fox Corporation statement says the family has “reached a mutual resolution of the legal proceeding in Nevada … resulting in the termination of all litigation”.
James, Elisabeth and Prudence will each receive more than $US1 billion ($1.52 billion) for their shares in the companies, The New York Times reported, citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the negotiations.
Fox said the three siblings would also be prevented from ever buying back into the companies.
The family trust will be resolved, and new trusts will be set up for Lachlan and his younger half-sisters, Chloe and Grace, who had a non-controlling stake in the original trust.
Since The future of News after Rupert retires, Lachlan has been the sole chair of News Corporation, which owns many of Australia’s biggest newspapers, and The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post in the US.
Lachlan is also the CEO and executive chair of Fox Corporation, which runs America’s Fox News network.
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