Murdoch Succession Drama Ends With Eldest Son Taking Control of Media Empire. What You Need to Know

The succession fight over Rupert Murdoch‘s multi-billion-dollar conservative media empire—which includes Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post—has come to an end. Under a deal announced by the family on Monday the media mogul’s eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, will cement control over the media companies. The agreement is expected to ensure the news outlets’ conservative leaning for years to come, as Lachlan is regarded as the most politically conservative of the older Murdoch siblings.  The announcement concludes a decades-long battle over the future control of the newspapers and television channels, which inspired the hit HBO television series Succession.  Here’s what to know.  What happens now? What will Lachlan Murdoch control? The deal will create a new family trust including Lachlan Murdoch and his two younger sisters Grace and Chloe. The trust, which is set to expire in 2050, will hold a controlling stake in the two biggest Murdoch media companies, Fox Corporation and News Corp., over which Lachlan will have sole voting control. Fox Corporation owns Fox News Media, Fox Entertainment, Fox Sports, contracts with a number of affiliate stations, and Tubi, a free streaming service.  Fox News Channel has been a dominant force in cable news for decades and was the top primetime network from the start of the summer through Labor Day, according to Nielsen. The network beat out popular shows including CBS’ Big Brother and NBC’s American Ninja Warrior in that period, averaging more than 2.4 million viewers during primetime. Fox Sports has also enjoyed recent successes, airing this year’s Super Bowl for a record-breaking audience and securing the English-language broadcasting rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S.  News Corp, meanwhile, owns the Wall Street Journal and other publications from Dow Jones, book publisher HarperCollins, the New York Post, Realtor.com, British daily newspaper The Times, the Sunday Times, The Sun, and The Australian. Other Australian newspapers and Sky News Australia are also under the company’s ownership.  The value of the Murdoch media empire is estimated to be $3.3 billion, according to the New York Times.  What about Murdoch’s other children? Rupert Murdoch’s three other children, Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch, will all sell their shares in Fox and News Corp in the next few months, relinquishing any control over the news organizations or their political leanings.  They are estimated to receive more than $1 billion each.  The existing family trust, in which those shares were held, will be dissolved. How does Rupert Murdoch feel about the outcome? The 94-year-old media mogul is reportedly happy his eldest son will inherit control of the media empire, amid concerns over his other children’s reportedly more politically moderate views. Rupert Murdoch previously sought to change the terms of the family trust to disenfranchise Lachlan’s oldest siblings and give him control. The effort met with failure in court, but led to negotiations. Andrew Neil, former Sunday Times editor and the founding chair of Sky TV, told the BBC that Murdoch had feared that after his death Lachlan would be outvoted by his siblings. “That won’t happen now because they’ve been bought out… Lachlan Murdoch is now king of the hill in a new trust that will have control of the organisation and he runs that without fear of interference from his siblings,” Neil said.