The question of what will ultimately happen to Rupert Murdoch’s vast and influential media empire when he passes away has lingered for years, and despite recent developments, it remains unresolved in many important respects. The issue first came sharply into public focus toward the end of 2024, when speculation abounded but definitive answers were nowhere to be found. Now, even after the announcement of a multibillion-dollar settlement within the Murdoch family — an agreement that has been described as a $3.3 billion peace accord — the future direction of the empire remains clouded in uncertainty.
What this recently announced arrangement does achieve, however, is to bring clarity to the immediate trajectory of the family’s holdings. The settlement, disclosed on a Monday afternoon, establishes that Rupert Murdoch’s sprawling empire, which encompasses influential institutions such as Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, will remain under his stewardship for the foreseeable future. More importantly, it confirms that active management and long-term oversight of the enterprise will be carried out by his eldest son and chosen successor, Lachlan Murdoch. This outcome was not inevitable. Until quite recently, the continued dominance of Lachlan Murdoch had been cast into doubt due to a contentious and very public legal struggle involving his siblings James, Elisabeth, and Prudence.
The conflict among the Murdoch heirs revolved around the distribution of power within the family’s trust and holding companies. One possible ruling from the court battles could have resulted in James and his two sisters collectively holding enough influence to outvote Lachlan on matters regarding the empire’s governance after Rupert’s death. That prospect grew increasingly plausible after December, when the faction aligned with James achieved a significant early victory in a Nevada court. The balance of power, for a moment, seemed to be shifting. However, rather than allowing the conflict to continue with unpredictable and potentially destructive consequences, Lachlan has chosen to buy out his three siblings entirely. According to reporting from *The New York Times*, this buyout takes the form of the multibillion-dollar deal that now reshapes the family’s ownership landscape.
Once this transaction is finalized, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence Murdoch will no longer wield any influence over the direction of Fox Corporation or News Corporation, which together serve as the parent entities for the Murdoch family’s vast collection of assets. Moreover, the settlement ensures that Lachlan’s control is firmly reinforced: the Murdoch family trust, which consolidates authority over the holdings, will remain intact and under his direction until at least the year 2050. Yet stability on paper does not necessarily translate into certainty about the character of leadership or the strategic decisions that may define the next era of the company.
It is tempting to liken these developments to the plot of the television series *Succession*, a comparison that has been frequently invoked for obvious reasons. The parallels between the fictional saga of a fractious media dynasty and the very real drama playing out in the Murdoch family are difficult to ignore. Still, while the immediate outcome is now evident — Lachlan is the heir in both name and fact — the long-term consequences of his stewardship remain open questions. Rupert Murdoch himself has consistently asserted that it was of utmost importance to secure continuity in leadership so that Lachlan would run the business in much the same manner as his father had. Yet such assurances do not guarantee that Lachlan’s decisions will perfectly mirror those of the elder Murdoch once he is no longer around to exert influence.
Indeed, it is entirely possible that Lachlan could choose, at some point, to divest specific assets that Rupert had deliberately retained, whether for personal, strategic, or political reasons. Another equally plausible outcome is that Lachlan may manage Fox News — the family’s single most powerful and lucrative media property, renowned not only for its immense profitability but also for its political clout — in a manner that diverges from his father’s philosophy. Variations in leadership style, even subtle ones, could generate meaningful shifts in the empire’s direction, both financially and culturally.
It is also worth remembering the particularly advanced age of Rupert Murdoch. At ninety-four years old, he represents one of the last living titans of a bygone era in global media. Unlike fellow mogul Sumner Redstone, who aggressively insisted on his own indefinite longevity before passing away at ninety-seven, Murdoch has not made extravagant gestures about immortality. The inevitability of succession therefore looms larger with each passing year.
The most important conclusion that can be drawn from the settlement is that when Rupert Murdoch does eventually die, the scale of intrafamilial conflict over his empire will likely be diminished, if not entirely eliminated. With his three other children no longer retaining a stake, the stage is set for Lachlan alone to determine how the empire will evolve in the decades to come. That said, the ultimate nature of that evolution — whether it will involve continuity, transformation, or fragmentation — remains an open-ended question mark, whose answer only time and Lachlan’s leadership will provide.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/rupert-murdoch-trust-children-fox-news-wsj-what-happens-2025-9
