Note that the outcome of the underlying case, which is about the future of the Murdoch media empire (i.e. whether control over it will fall exclusively to conservative Lachlan Murdoch or be evenly split among all four heirs, of whom three are comparatively liberal), will be extremely consequential for both media and politics on a global scale.
May they tear up each other in court.
What legal ground do they have to stand on?
“I want to revoke and irrevocable trust because the recipients aren’t conservative?”
There’s a provision that says the trust structure can be changed without everyone’s consent if the intended change is in the interest of all trustees. Rupert, Lachlan and their team want to exploit this by arguing that the ongoing financial success of the media empire is dependent on it retaining its staunchly conservative editorial line, so that it is in fact (from a financial point of view) in the interest of the three non-conservative children if they don’t get to have any influence. The first judge wasn’t buying it; let’s hope that the others will rule the same way. (One argument in their favor is that the $787 million settlement that Fox News has to pay to Dominion Voting System due to a defamation lawsuit was a consequence of Rupert’s or Lachlan’s die-hard conservative messaging.)
What’s less good: I remember dimly that, should Rupert live long enough (past theö year 2030?), he can change the trust at will again.
Fuck this dude with a rusty spade. He’s a monster, so bad that even extreme old age doesn’t temper my hate.
Burn it all to the ground, kids.
Greg has entered the chat
Fascinating - so he changed the trust to grant all power to the eldest son but other kids ain’t happy and the details are sealed so makes you wonder what spicy shit is in there. This is some evil empire drama.
The push is coming from a coalition of other big media sources and this “Our Nevada Judges” (ONJ) non-profit which basically all they do is civic action against sealed material - what a cool organization!
The Atlantic article that I linked in the post description talks at length about the spicy shit (especially about the family relations and only comparatively little about the legal aspects).
Succession
