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A Nevada court has blocked Rupert Murdoch's attempt to amend his family trust to leave his eldest son Lachlan in control of the family media empire.
In a sealed decision issued over the weekend, a Nevada court commissioner found Robert Lachlan Murdoch acted in “bad faith” in attempting to do so Change trust To leave Lachlan in control instead of his brothers, a person familiar with the matter said. This move would have strengthened Rupert Murdoch's legacy of driving the right-wing agenda through his media companies such as Fox News.
One of the people familiar with the ruling said the decision was a “resounding victory” for the Murdochs' three children – James, Elizabeth and Prudence – who were at risk of losing control of the multi-billion-dollar business after their father's death.
The three said in a statement that they welcomed the decision “and hope that we can move beyond this lawsuit to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships between all family members.”
Rupert Murdoch intends to appeal the decision, according to a source familiar with the case. This was first reported by The New York Times.
Murdoch, 93, had wanted to amend an irrevocable family trust to give his eldest son full control of voting and decision-making powers after his death. Lachlan Murdoch runs Fox and News Corp, but control of the trust is set to be split between Rupert Murdoch's four eldest sons upon his death.
The fund was created after Rupert Murdoch's divorce from his second wife, Anna Torv, with each of her children receiving equal voting rights after their father's death. Grace and Chloe, his children by his third wife, Wendi Deng, have an economic interest but no voting control.
The case revealed to the public the deep differences within the billionaire Murdoch family, and raised open questions about… The future of the empire After the death of the patriarch.
Rather than securing Rupert Murdoch's vision for the company, the court case proved more divisive, with the sisters siding with their brother James.
James has been estranged from the family for a long time after losing to Lachlan in the battle for control of the family's media assets. Elizabeth in particular tried to build bridges between the siblings and their father.
At stake is the future of a journalistic empire that continues to influence conservative politics across the English-speaking world, spanning outlets including Fox News, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal in the US, and The Sun and The Times in the UK.
The Murdoch family gathered in September in a Reno, Nevada, court to plead their cases before the county probate commissioner. The case was conducted in secret, with the courtroom proceedings and documents closed to the public.
This story has been edited to correct the description of the three children who challenged confidence changes
