Rupert Murdoch built one of the most consequential media empires in the English-speaking world: Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, The Times and The Sun of London, and a sprawling Australian press. For decades his outlets have set the agenda of the political right on three continents, making him arguably the single most influential private actor in conservative media.
In September 2025 Murdoch resolved a years-long 'Succession'-style battle over the family trust. Under the settlement, his eldest son Lachlan — politically aligned with Rupert — gains sole control of a new trust governing Fox Corp. and News Corp., while three other children (Prudence, Elisabeth, and James) ceded their stakes in exchange for about $1.1 billion each. The arrangement locks in the empire's conservative editorial direction well beyond Rupert's lifetime.
At 94, Murdoch has formally stepped back from chairman roles, but the 2025 trust resolution is the capstone of his career: it converts a temporary, person-dependent grip on narrative power into a durable, inheritable one.
What they control
- Fox Corporation: Fox News, the most-watched U.S. cable-news channel, plus Fox broadcast and sports
- News Corp: The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Dow Jones, HarperCollins, and major UK/Australian press
- The family trust mechanism that determines who controls all of the above
- An agenda-setting role across U.S., UK, and Australian conservative politics
- A succession structure that entrenches Lachlan's editorial control
Key institutions & holdings
Parent of Fox News; Lachlan now controls the governing trust.
Owns the WSJ, NY Post, Dow Jones, HarperCollins, and UK/AU papers.
Reconstituted in 2025 to give Lachlan sole control.
Key facts
- In September 2025, a settlement gave eldest son Lachlan sole control of the trust over Fox and News Corp.
- Prudence, Elisabeth, and James each received about $1.1 billion to cede their stakes.
- A Nevada probate court had rejected Rupert and Lachlan's earlier bid to amend the irrevocable trust, citing 'bad faith.'
- Fox News is the most-watched cable-news network in the United States.
- Murdoch is 94 and has stepped back from his chairman roles.
Timeline
- 1952Inherits a single Adelaide newspaper and begins building the empire.
- 1996Launches Fox News Channel in the U.S.
- 1999Establishes the family trust after his divorce from Anna Murdoch.
- 2023-11Steps down as chairman of Fox and News Corp; Lachlan takes the chair.
- 2024-12A Nevada probate court rejects the bid to amend the trust, citing bad faith.
- 2025-09Family settles; Lachlan gains sole control, siblings paid ~$1.1B each.
Controversies
Dominion defamation settlement · 2023
Fox News paid roughly $787.5 million to settle Dominion Voting Systems' defamation suit over 2020 election falsehoods aired on its programs.
UK phone-hacking scandal · 2011
Murdoch's News of the World was shut down amid revelations that journalists hacked phones, triggering the Leveson Inquiry into press conduct.
Succession by litigation · 2024–2025
The attempt to override the irrevocable trust to favor Lachlan, found to be in 'bad faith' by a court, exposed how editorial control was engineered to outlast the patriarch.
Network
- Lachlan MurdochHeirNow sole controller of the family trust and the empire's editorial direction.
- James MurdochEstranged sonMore liberal; ceded his stake in the settlement.
- Elisabeth & Prudence MurdochDaughtersAlso paid to cede their stakes.
- Fox News leadershipOperativesRun the network whose direction the trust protects.
Why this matters
Murdoch's empire decides what tens of millions of people across three countries treat as news. The 2025 trust settlement means that editorial power — and the conservative slant of Fox and the WSJ — is now insulated from the more moderate heirs and locked in under Lachlan, showing how concentrated narrative control can be made to survive its founder and resist the pull of a changing electorate.