Murdoch fails in bid to change family trust: New York Times
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The news: A US court has ruled against Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to change his family’s trust to consolidate his eldest son Lachlan’s control of his media empire, The New York Times reported.
The numbers: Rupert Murdoch and eldest son Lachlan had in July sought to amend the irrevocable trust, which divides control of the company equally among Murdoch’s four oldest children — Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence — after his death.
The context: The Nevada commissioner concluded in a ruling filed on Saturday that Rupert and Lachlan had acted in “bad faith” in their effort to amend the irrevocable trust, the newspaper reported, citing a sealed court document.
He said the plan to change the trust was a “carefully crafted charade” to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” inside the media empire regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries of the family trust, the report said. A lawyer for Rupert Murdoch told the newspaper they intended to appeal the ruling.
Murdoch reportedly wanted to ensure that eldest son Lachlan retained control of the empire — which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and major newspapers and television outlets in Australia and Britain — in order to preserve its conservative political stance, which he believes is deeply integral to News Corp’s ongoing value.
The source: New York Times
