Lachlan gets control of Murdoch empire

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his children resolved a messy family feud with a settlement that gives favoured son Lachlan Murdoch broad control of the empire that includes the Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins book publishing and the Fox broadcast network.

Under the agreement announced Monday, 54-year-old Lachlan will become the sole decision maker for the trust that controls Fox Corp and News Corp, while three of Murdoch's children - Prudence, Elisabeth and James - will give up their stakes. Instead, they'll receive $1.1 billion each, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Murdoch holds a 40% voting stake in both companies. Under the deal announced Monday, a new family company controlled by Lachlan will have a 36% voting stake in Fox and 33% of News Corp. News Corp and Fox will sell shares worth about $1.4 billion on behalf of the three children leaving the trust. Lachlan's new family-owned company will purchase additional stock from them, partly with a $1 billion loan.

Fox Corp's voting shares fell as much as 7.7% Tuesday in New York after hitting an all-time high of $57 on Monday, while News Corp's shares fell to a minimum of 4.7% on Tuesday. The legal battle began in 2023, when Rupert first sought to change the family trust and put Lachlan in charge of the empire,with each of his four eldest children getting one vote in the trust upon his death.

Lachlan, who was pegged as an early successor and received training in different roles within the family's empire, is viewed as holding the same conservative political views as his father. The settlement is a resounding victory for Murdoch, 94, and Lachlan. bloomberg