‘Petty grievances’ and an alleged troublemaker: unsealed Murdoch court documents give rare glimpse into bitter succession battle
Newly unsealed court documents from a Nevada probate case have revealed the bitter family tensions behind Rupert Murdoch's decision to hand control of his media empire to his eldest son, Lachlan, ending a long-running succession dispute settled a year ago. The documents, from a late-2024 ruling by probate commissioner Edmund Gorman, show Murdoch viewed his son James as a troublemaker who needed to be cut off from the family trust, while also detailing "petty grievances" and rivalries among his four eldest children, and drawing explicit comparisons to the HBO drama Succession, which the family is said to have inspired.
The ruling details how Murdoch, 95, defended preserving Fox and News Corp as conservative-leaning media voices he considered essential to democracy, and had pushed Lachlan since 2019 to buy out his siblings' stakes, though the commissioner found Lachlan's offers were too low. It also found Lachlan had misled his father about James, including a false claim that James had spoken to a journalist for a book about the family, and criticised Lachlan for a "lack of candor" during the proceedings. James quit the News Corp board in 2020 over editorial disagreements, including on climate coverage, while Murdoch accused him, Prudence and Elisabeth of plotting to remove Lachlan after his death.
- Unsealed Nevada court files expose bitter Murdoch family succession battle details
- Rupert Murdoch saw son James as a "troublemaker" undermining Lachlan's leadership
- Commissioner found Lachlan misled his father and lacked candour in court
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Rupert Murdoch built one of the world's most powerful media empires, spanning Fox News, News Corp and various newspapers and television outlets in the US, UK and Australia. For years there has been uncertainty over who would eventually control that empire after him, given he has four adult children from his first two marriages who were all set to share power under the family trust: Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence. This uncertainty became the subject of a legal fight in Nevada, where the family trust is based, after Murdoch tried to change its terms.
Murdoch, now 95, wanted to secure his eldest son Lachlan's control over the businesses after his own death, rather than leaving decision-making shared among all four siblings. Lachlan runs Fox and News Corp and shares his father's editorial outlook, while James, a former News Corp executive, had publicly broken with the company over its direction, including its coverage of climate change. The dispute was widely seen as echoing the plot of the television drama Succession, about a media dynasty battling over inheritance.
The Nevada probate case was resolved via settlement around a year ago, confirming Lachlan's path to control, but the underlying court filings were sealed. Their recent release matters because it offers a rare, detailed account of the family rivalries, allegations and reasoning that shaped a decision affecting the ownership of major news outlets that millions of people rely on.