When news broke this morning that the Murdoch family has come to an agreement over the lengthy succession battle to control the business, it stopped media watchers dead in their tracks as they hurriedly tried to understand who is getting what in the deal.
It’s an ongoing, high-stakes drama that would have already generated tremendous interest, but with the zeitgeist hit Succession stimulating curiosity in the real-world inspiration for the fictitious family in the HBO TV show, the news today had even greater impact.
In one corner, you have conservatively-minded Lachlan Murdoch, already the chairman of News Corp and executive chairman of Fox Corporation.
In the other you have his siblings Prudence, Elizabeth, and James. It is understood that they are less enthusiastic about the political lean of the family business.
Had an agreement not been reached, the existing family trust was set to expire in 2030, which would have given Prudence, Elizabeth, and James the ability to sell their shares, which would have seen the Murdoch family lose control of the business.
The deal
In the deal brokered, the existing family trust will be dissolved. In its place will be two trusts, the first is to be shared by Prudence, Elizabeth, and James. It has been valued at $US3.3 billion, which delivers each of them US$1.1 billion each.
The new trust fund held by the trio will be filled with the proceeds of approx 14.2 million News Corp Class B shares and 16.9 million Fox Corporation Class B shares. The Class B shares will give them voting rights.
Meanwhile Lachlan and the two youngest siblings, twentysomethings Grace and Chloe, will be given their own trust. This trust holds the rest of the Murdoch family stake in the two companies – 33.1 per cent of News Corp and around 36.2 per cent of Fox Corporation.
The new trust for Lachlan, Chloe, and Grace will keep the business in the hands of Lachlan Murdoch until at least the time comes for the trust to expire in 2050.
Lachlan has come out the big winner in the agreement, keeping control of News Corp and Fox Corporation for what may be the rest of his professional life.
What does the Murdoch empire control?
The most relevant Murdoch business for Australians is News Corp thanks to its large presence locally with national, state, and local newspapers, as well as incredibly strong digital holdings.
News Corp holdings include:
• The Australian
• State-based papers The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, The Mercury, and the NT News.
• Community papers, inclusive of the Quest newspapers, and the Leader newspapers.
• REA Group, which includes realestate.com.au locally and realtor.com in the US.
• Dow Jones & Company, Inc, which includes The Wall Street Journal
• HarperCollins
• The New York Post
• UK papers The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun
• UK radio stations including Talk (formerly TalkTV) and Virgin Radio UK
Due to the size of the US market, the Fox Corporation business delivers significantly higher revenues than News Corp. It recently reported revenues of over US$16 billion for 2024-25. News Corp reported revenue of US$8.45 billion for 2024/25.
Fox Corporation Holdings include:
• Fox News Media, which includes the Fox News Channel, Fox Business, DTC business Fox Nation, Fox Weather, and the growing Fox News Audio.
• Fox Entertainment, which is comprised of three business units: The Fox TV network, production with Fox Entertainment Studios, and the worldwide content sales and licensing unit Fox Entertainment Global
• Fox Sports Media Group, which includes Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and Fox Sports Radio
• Tubi