Rupert Murdoch steps down as Fox and News Corp. chairman https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/21/media/rupert-murdoch-steps-down-fox/index.html Rupert Murdoch announced Thursday that he will step down as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp. “For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,” Murdoch wrote in a memo to employees. “But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams.” His son, Lachlan Murdoch, will become sole chairman of both companies. Rupert Murdoch called his son “a passionate, principled leader.” The 92-year-old media mogul, who got into the newspaper business in the 1950s, became a major Hollywood executive in 1985 when he purchased Twentieth Century Fox from oilman Marvin Davis for $600 million. In 1986, Murdoch got into the TV business after he purchased several US television stations and created Fox Broadcasting. Fox News launched in 1996 as a startup competitor to CNN. It eventually became the No. 1 cable news channel in America and a bastion for Republican talking points and falsehoods. This is a breaking news story. It will be updated
Elon Musk to buy Fox News and do with them what he did with Twitter? How quickly can Musk sink the entire network? Kara Swisher Predicts Short Reign For ‘Crown Prince’ Lachlan Murdoch — And a Sale of Fox News to Elon Musk https://www.mediaite.com/news/kara-...-murdoch-before-a-possible-sell-to-elon-musk/
MAGA Media Warns Fox News Viewers: Lachlan Murdoch Is ‘Super Woke’ ALTERNATE REALITY Steve Bannon and Newsmax personalities, in an attempt to appeal to pro-Trump viewers, have crafted a narrative that the younger Murdoch will veer Fox News off a leftward cliff. https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-media-warns-fox-news-viewers-lachlan-murdoch-is-super-woke
Let's catch up with the latest from Succession with the Murdochs. Why the Murdoch family is secretly battling over succession in an obscure Nevada court https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/12/business/murdoch-succession-family-trust-court-nevada-fox/index.html When Rupert Murdoch, the 93-year-old media mogul, quietly decided last year to upend the irrevocable family trust that governs who will control his sprawling global media empire after his death, the move ignited an intense feud among his children. But the secret family affair now playing out inside an obscure Reno, Nevada, courtroom like a page ripped from the scripted fireworks of the HBO show “Succession,” won’t be seen on television, or even in the written press. At the center of the battle is the billionaire patriarch’s stunning decision to petition a court late last year to amend the family trust that would have given equal voting shares upon his death to Murdoch’s eldest four children — Lachlan, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence. Instead, Murdoch is seeking to grant exclusive control to Lachlan, his eldest son and chosen successor. Lachlan, who is more aligned with his father’s conservative political views than his siblings, took over as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corporation last September when his father stepped down. Citing court documents, which CNN has not independently seen, the New York Times reported that Murdoch felt that handing Lachlan control of the media businesses he founded would better protect their value after his death by maintaining a right-wing editorial bent. Now, the courtroom struggle will determine who ultimately commands Murdoch’s sprawling right-wing media empire, including its highly profitable crown jewel Fox News, opening the possibility that the mogul’s powerful and influential outlets could see their political slant moderated should Lachlan’s siblings gain control. Last week, the younger James Murdoch, who resigned from News Corp. in 2020, signed a public letter endorsing Kamala Harris for president, calling her election “the best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy.” Spokespersons representing Rupert, Lachlan, James and Elisabeth Murdoch either declined to comment or did not respond to CNN requests for comment for this story. Prudence, Murdoch’s oldest child, could not be reached. While Murdoch and his children feud amongst themselves over a global media empire that also includes The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and television and print outlets in Australia and the UK, the family is united on one thing: keeping the family fight as secret as possible. The very existence of the case was only revealed in a New York Times report published in July, citing sealed court documents. A trek to the Nevada desert While the Murdochs have little, if any, connection to the state of Nevada, the family battle is taking place behind closed doors in a Washoe County courtroom. The Silver State offers one of the most private court settings for issues like family trust decisions, allowing parties and judges to lock the cases behind closed doors to such an extreme degree that their very existence is not even publicized on court dockets. “Nevada made itself competitive in the trust market by allowing this extensive level of secrecy,” said Alex Falconi, founder of Our Nevada Judges, a nonprofit watchdog site that tracks judges’ decisions and publishes videos of court proceedings. Falconi has been at the forefront of legal cases aiming to open up sealed court proceedings in the state, alongside the American Civil Liberties Union. Falconi told CNN that Nevada’s extreme measures to seal cases can make for strange due process issues. “If we don’t know what your basis to seal is, how do we know where to file if the entire docket number is sealed? How do we know who to serve if we don’t know the attorney’s names?” he said. In recent days, the Second Judicial District Court in Nevada recognized the immense media and public interest in the Murdoch case and eventually posted a general docket information page for what it described as “The Matter of the Doe 1 Trust, PR23-00813.”Falconi said he was shocked by the move to provide a public schedule, but nearly everything else related to the case remains sealed. Petitions to break the case open A media coalition representing seven national news organizations, including CNN, The New York Times, National Public Radio and others, filed a petition last week to unseal the proceedings, arguing that the intense secrecy is unconstitutional and a decision in the case could reverberate across the political landscape. “Nevada’s courts are accountable to the public, and the public is entitled to know whether the trust at issue is being administered in accordance with the law,” the media coalition said in a filing. “Certainly, an entire matter cannot be sealed such that its very existence is not a public record, even if all parties to the litigation agree. Rather, the court must apply the presumption of access and make specific findings to underpin any sealing.” Falconi had also petitioned the court to allow cameras in the courtroom, following victories in other cases, but his request was denied. He is now appealing the decision. Last year, Falconi successfully petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court, which ruled that the public has a constitutional right to access Family Court cases. But attorneys for the Murdochs contend that doesn’t apply to their trust case, which they say “are deeply rooted in equity and were historically treated as private matters.” Falconi said it’s possible that that the judge will reject the petitions for transparency, a decision which itself may be sealed. Attorneys for at least one Murdoch family member, identified in court filings only as “Doe,” argued in response to the media petition that unsealing the court proceedings would give the news outlets “confidential information into the innerworkings of their competitors.” They argued that the public must not be given access to the hearings over safety concerns, noting that Rupert Murdoch “requires around-the-clock security.” “It is ironic that the establishment media—including the Proposed Intervenors—who have painted Fox and News, and those perceived to control them, as dangers to American democracy and enemies to be stopped now question why sealing is justified based on threats to the Murdoch Family’s safety,” attorneys for one of the family members wrote in a court filing. While the court is scheduled to hold evidentiary hearings next week, a decision from the court on media access could come at any time. If a judge does agree to unseal the case, it could have major ripple effects for Nevada family courts. But not everyone wants these cases to be unsealed. Some have argued that sealing family court cases helps protect the privacy of vulnerable people. Falconi and others who support open courts have argued that cases can be closed on an individual basis, or specific aspects of a case can be sealed or redacted. Falconi is not working with the media coalition, but said he hopes the national media attention on the Murdoch case will tangentially help his mission. “When all of you guys with your mainstream media articles come out, it is helping a lot, because (the courts are) starting to realize that this is not normal,” Falconi said. “They’re starting to realize that we’re weird, and it’ll make them want to fix it.”
The continuing Murdoch saga... Rupert Murdoch demanded his kids give him $100 million each as a sign of respect https://fortune.com/2024/09/13/rupe...isabeth-prudence-james-give-100-million-each/
Today is the first day in court. Some interesting information should come out during the course of this trial. Rupert Murdoch's 'Succession' court battle begins https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyllp4rey9o
Murdoch family holds its breath as future of media empire hangs in the balance https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/26/media/rupert-murdoch-fox-succession-lachlan-court/index.html The fate of Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire, including Fox News, is now in the hands of a Reno probate commissioner, who will decide whether the 93-year-old media mogul can change his succession plan to preserve the right-wing editorial bent of his influential outlets. Murdoch and his eldest children descended on a Reno courthouse to appear for evidentiary hearings in a secret trial to determine whether the 93-year-old can alter the family trust that he established decades ago, giving his four oldest children equal votes over the future of his conservative media empire after he dies. Murdoch wants to amend the trust so that his eldest son and chosen successor, Lachlan, will remain in charge for decades to come. But the three other Murdoch children — James, Elisabeth and Prudence — oppose the change, and have challenged it in court. According to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Murdoch fears his other three children could moderate the highly profitable and famously right-wing slant promoted by some of his outlets like Fox News, which he believes would diminish the company’s value. The legal proceedings, which took place outside of public view, wrapped up on Tuesday. Now, the family members wait for a decision. In the coming days or weeks, a probate commissioner will issue a report and recommendation on whether Murdoch can change the family trust, according to Elyse Tyrell, an attorney in Las Vegas who specializes in trusts and estates. The opinion will not be made public. But it could be a while before that happens. Each party will then have 10 days to object to his report and recommendation, Tyrell said. Any objection — which is expected in this case — would then be sent to a judge, who could rule on the case, or send it back with notes for the commissioner to reconsider. “Unfortunately, there’s no telling how quick that process is,” Tyrell said. “There’s no timeframe for that.” Under Nevada law, an eventual ruling by the judge could be appealed directly to the Nevada Supreme Court because the trust’s assets — which include The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and television and print outlets in Australia and the UK — are valued at more than $5.43 million, Tyrell said. The high-stakes succession fight took place behind closed doors in Nevada, which offers one of the most private court settings for issues like family trust decisions, allowing parties and courts to lock the cases behind closed doors to such an extreme degree that their very existence is not even publicized on court dockets. In recent days, a coalition of news organizations that includes CNN has petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court to unseal the case, arguing “the succession will affect thousands of jobs, millions of worldwide media consumers, and the American political landscape.”