A years-long succession battle within Rupert Murdoch’s conservative media empire has drawn to a close, with his son Lachlan set to control the news group.
The deal, which the family announced on Monday, will ensure the ongoing conservative leaning of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post even after 94-year-old Rupert’s death.
Under the agreement Lachlan will control a new trust while siblings Prue MacLeod, Elizabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch will cease being beneficiaries of any trust with shares in Fox or News Corp.
It follows years of tension between the media mogul and three of his children over the future of the family-owned newspapers and television networks.
The Murdoch family’s internal turmoil served as inspiration for the hit television drama Succession. The deal announced on Monday to end the real-life saga ends all litigation over the family’s trust.
Lachlan’s more politically moderate oldest siblings are poised to sell their holdings in Fox and News Corp in the coming months. They will also be named as beneficiaries of a new trust, which will receive cash from the sale of about 14.2 million shares of News Corp. and 16.9 million shares of Fox Corp.
The sale of their shares will add to the three siblings’ existing inheritance, but prevent them from having any influence over the political bent of the family’s media conglomerate.
Lachlan is currently the chair of News Corp, which counts The Wall Street Journal and The Times among its slew of publications. He is widely seen as the most politically conservative of Rupert’s oldest children.
“The leadership, vision and management by the company’s chair, Lachlan Murdoch, will continue to be important to guiding the company’s strategy and success,” News Corp said in a statement announcing the deal.
