Murdoch’s family payout is a gift to investors too

News Corp

09/09/2025 13:00

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions expressed are her own.

By Jennifer  Saba

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Long live the new king, until 2050 at least. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has, at last, settled a simmering family feud that threatened the future of his corporate empire, Fox FOXA.O and News Corp NWSA.O. The result: the 94-year-old has ensured that his favored son, Lachlan, will maintain control of the clan’s voting stake for a quarter of a century. Such brazen tactics in defense of dynastic governance are usually bad news for shareholders. In this case, though, it’s the best outcome.

The patriarch is paying off three of his children – Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch – with a cash settlement partly funded by the public sale of a slice of the family trust’s voting shares in News Corp and Fox. In sum, the class B stock should be worth about $1.4 billion at Monday’s closing prices. The total payout may be north of $3 billion, though, according to the New York Times. In return, the departing trustees foreswear any interest, “directly or indirectly,” in the companies. To account for any potential future disturbances, they signed up for a long standstill agreement.

It's a tidy solution to what might have been a very messy situation for the master of tabloids. Rupert and Lachlan had teamed up to try to tilt the trust away from the others, an effort that landed in a Nevada court. A probate commissioner ruled in favor of Prudence, Elisabeth and James. Before Monday’s announcement, upon Rupert’s death, the trust’s voting power – until now, about 40% of the say at Fox and News Corp – would have been shared among the fractious brood. Instead, it will be steered exclusively by Lachlan for 25 years.

Any doubts about future leadership have been put to rest. Lachlan is chair of News Corp, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and part owner of Australian real estate company REA Group REA.AX. Fox, where he serves as chair and CEO, is one of the best-run traditional media companies, managing to dodge most of the ills plaguing peers stuck with declining TV assets such as Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O. That’s due in large part to the success of Fox News, the popular conservative news network that’s part of the reason for the family schism. Rupert Murdoch’s stern hand has guided his empire through a rocky period of industry change. He is, after all, known for doing what he wants. Independent investors have benefitted from quelling the internal chaos.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Fox and News Corp said on September 8 that the trustee and beneficiaries of the Murdoch Family Trust, which controls approximately 40% of the vote in both companies, have reached a mutual agreement terminating all litigation.

The terms establish a new trust giving Fox Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch control of the family’s voting stake. His siblings, Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch will cease to be beneficiaries and will receive a cash settlement partly funded by the public sale of approximately 14.2 million shares of News Corp’s voting stock and approximately 16.9 million shares of Fox voting stock previously held by the trust.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman emeritus of both companies, established the terms of the trust. He went to court in 2024 over an effort to change those terms in favor of Lachlan. A Nevada probate commissioner ruled against the move, siding with Prudence, Elisabeth and James.

Fox gilds Rupert Murdoch's media empire https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/mopadoowzva/chart.png

(Editing by Jonathan Guilford; Production by Pranav Kiran)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on SABA/jennifer.saba@thomsonreuters.com))