Lachlan Murdoch secures Rupert’s empire legacy, lifting threat of sell-off for UK newspapers
Politicians will “beat a path to Lachlan Murdoch’s door” after a deal was finalised in the bitter succession battle over father Rupert’s empire, which secures the future of the mogul’s UK newspapers.
The $3.3bn (£2.4bn) agreement, which gives Rupert’s eldest son unassailable control of a sprawling empire, stretching from Fox News to the Wall Street Journal, has averted a possible sell-off of The Sun and The Times, insiders said.
The deal also locks-in the Conservative leanings of the Murdoch TV channels and newspapers, offering hope to party leaders such as Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch that they could win a still-prized endorsement from the UK titles.
The agreement ends the family feud, which inspired the hit series Succession, over who will control the Murdoch empire following the death of Rupert, 94.
His other children James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod are each expected to receive about $1.1bn (£800m) in return for giving up any future interest in the family business.
The trio, who do not share Rupert and Lachlan’s conservative politics, agreed to sell their personal holdings in Fox and News Corp over a period of six months, according to a company announcement.
The heirs will no longer be able to join forces and mount a coup against Lachlan, Rupert’s anointed successor, who serves as executive chairman of Fox and chairman of News Corp. Murdoch senior has remained as chairman emeritus of both Fox Corporation and News Corp since Lachlan took control of the business in 2023.
Without a deal, James, Elisabeth and Prudence could have sold their stakes to an outsider, leading to a possible break-up of the business and ending the family control of the empire that Rupert was so desperate to ensure.
‘You’ll need to talk to Lachlan, not Rupert’
Claire Enders, a leading media analyst, said: “The deal is good news for the newspapers. It ends the risk of the titles being disposed of because the siblings are going at each other’s throats over the assets.”
Lachlan is a “thoughtful, small ‘c’ conservative” who places business profitability over political ideology, Enders said.
One senior News UK figure said: “Politicians will be beating a path to Lachlan’s door now. Even Trump will figure out, you need to talk to the son, not Rupert, to get things done.”
The endorsement of Labour before last year’s general election was “as lukewarm as it gets because they were going to win and went against the natural instinct of many Sun writers,” the person added.
The decision was understood to have been approved by Lachlan in consultation with News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks.
Staffers said the pair had a strong working relationship. Lachlan has made a number of visits to the company’s London Bridge UK HQ but is seen as a low-key figure – compared to Rupert – who does not interfere in day-to-day editorial matters.
Lachlan’s emergence as a power-broker was demonstrated when he hosted the News Corp summer party in London earlier this year. Farage, Badenoch and the Prime Minister all attended.
However one former Murdoch editor warned not to write off Murdoch Snr just yet. “Rupert will never really retire. As he always says they’ll have to carry him out in a box.”
Lachlan has won over sceptics who dismissed him as a “nepo baby” on his appointment. Despite disputes between News Corp and President Trump, Fox News remains the hugely-profitable voice of the Maga movement, beating other major US TV networks in prime-time this summer. The News Corp share price has also hit a record high.
Media analyst Alex DeGroote said: “The deal underpins the future of the News Corp UK media assets, including Sun and Times.
“For supporters of the conservative right, it will be interesting to see if the Sun adopts a more strident right wing editorial stance now. It has been rather diluted in recent years.”
Andrew Neil, former Sunday Times editor, said the outcome was “an expensive success” for Rupert.
Neil told the BBC that Lachlan was a “chip off the old block.” Rupert’s fear was that “when he went to the great newsroom in the sky Lachlan would be outvoted” by his three oldest siblings “who are of a small ‘l’ liberal bent”.
“That won’t happen now because they’ve been bought out… Lachlan Murdoch is now king of the hill in a new trust that will have control of the organisation and he runs that without fear of interference from his siblings.”
However the deal opens the prospect of a Succession reboot in 2050, when the new family Trust arrangement expires.
Paddy Manning, Lachlan’s biographer, wrote on the Australian ABC news website: “By then Lachlan will be approaching 80, possibly retired, and watching on as his own children Kalan, Aidan and Aerin jockey to succeed him.
“It is almost three decades since Rupert Murdoch described his eldest son Lachlan as a ‘first among equals’. That’s how long it has taken for the Murdoch family to finally settle the succession question. It would be a pity if it were to resurface in two decades.”
News UK was approached for comment.
