Fox News has been a pernicious influence in US public life. It has promoted extreme right wing policies, cultivated hatred of immigrants, indulged racists, targeted minorities, and in general been on the wrong side of almost every major social issue.

Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News and owner of other major media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and the UK-based Times and Sun, has been challenged by three of his children who are fighting to prevent him from changing the terms of the irrevocable trust (worth $1.49 billion) he created to take over his empire when he dies. The closed hearing before a probate judge began on September 16 in Reno, Nevada. We will likely not know what is going on until either a settlement is reached that everyone agrees to, or the case goes to court because one or the other side appeals the probate judge’s decision.

In a nutshell, Murdoch has six children by his first three wives. According to this report, “The trust was formed at the time of the 1999 divorce of Rupert from his second wife, Anna Murdoch Mann, the mother of James, Lachlan and Elisabeth. She wanted to ensure her children had a future ownership stake in the Murdoch empire. The trust was “irrevocable,” meaning it would be difficult to alter.”

Under the terms of the trust, Murdoch’s four eldest children (from his first two wives) would end up sharing equally the 40% voting power over the father’s empire. But while the eldest son Lachlan shares his father’s political views, the other three Prudence (from his first wife), Elisabeth, and James have gone in a different direction. In fact, James has endorsed Kamala Harris. That may be why the patriarch wanted to change the terms of the trust so that Lachlan would inherit all the controlling power of 40%.

Rupert Murdoch, 93 years old, is seeking to amend his trust—which holds big stakes in Fox News owner Fox Corp. and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp—to ensure that when he dies Lachlan will control the family holdings spanning cable news, sports media, streaming, newspapers, book publishing and real estate. James Murdoch is resisting the change, and these days he has Elisabeth and Prudence on his side. 
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The Murdoch trust exercises considerable influence over Fox and News Corp, with roughly 40% voting stakes in each company. Rupert now controls it, but when he dies, each of his four oldest children will have an equal voting share, people familiar with the matter said.

For Rupert Murdoch, putting more power in Lachlan’s hands is meant to ensure stability at the businesses and avoid a confusing ownership structure in coming years, associates of the mogul said. If he prevails, Lachlan would have the same sweeping authority his father has enjoyed for years, and other shareholders would largely have to accept whatever his plans are for the companies. 
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Under the proposed changes, Lachlan would eventually gain control when Rupert’s votes go away. James, Elisabeth and Prudence would still remain financial beneficiaries, alongside two younger siblings from Rupert Murdoch’s marriage to Wendi Deng, Grace and Chloe. 

Rupert was moved to act, in part, because he worried James and his sisters would align to block Lachlan’s management of the companies, people close to the Murdochs said. He told people he was concerned that James, who has been critical of Fox News—especially since the aftermath of the 2020 election—would moderate the channel’s content, undermining its appeal to conservative audiences. Others close to the Murdochs said they feared James would push to sell Fox News.

James in particular has been critical of the news coverage of the media empire.

He and his wife, Kathryn, are ardent environmentalists who have designed their philanthropy and investing around fighting climate change and reshaping the democratic process to stop encouraging hyperpartisanship. They told close associates they were disturbed by what they saw as an extreme right turn Fox News took in the age of Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter, and want to see it occupy center-right territory in the media landscape.

Prudence and Elisabeth also have expressed embarrassment at being associated with Fox News. The two youngest children Grace and Chloe, aged 23 and 21 respectively, never had any voting power and so are not part of this struggle.

This article explains in more detail what is going on.

Mr Murdoch, who has been married five times, also has two younger children, Grace and Chloe, who do not have any voting rights under the trust agreement.

“From what we know, this plan essentially seeks to put Prudence, James and Elisabeth on the same footing as Murdoch’s two younger daughters,” said Walter Marsh, an Australian journalist and author of the biography Young Rupert: The making of the Murdoch Empire.

He added that “all voting power” could be handed over to Lachlan.
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In 1999, the Murdoch Family Trust, which owns the media companies, was supposed to largely settle the succession plans.

It led to Mr Murdoch giving his eldest children various jobs within his companies.

The trust gives the family eight votes, which it can use to have a say on the board of News Corp and Fox News.

Mr Murdoch currently controls four of those votes, with his eldest children being in charge of one each.

The trust agreement said that once Mr Murdoch died, his votes would be passed on to his four eldest children equally.

However, differences in opinions and political views were said to lead to a family rift.

The media mogul stepped down as Fox and News Corp chairman in favour of Lachlan, who reportedly shares the same right-wing views as his father.

This has reportedly led to James, Elisabeth and Prudence uniting and “fighting back”.

While I would like to see Prudence, Elisabeth and James win this fight, retain their shares and after Rupert dies take Fox News in a less hateful and harmful direction, I fear that this is likely to end, as such cases usually do, with some kind of settlement, perhaps one in which Prudence, Elisabeth, and James accept a hefty payout in return for giving up their voting shares.