The Murdoch family has come to an agreement that sets the direction for the family’s media empire and resolves a long-standing dispute.
Lachlan Murdoch, whose father, Rupert Murdoch, wanted to run his media empire, will remain in control of News Corp. and Fox Corp., according to Axios.
In dissolving a trust that gave all four children equal shares, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James Murdoch will depart the media business with large payouts that bring a lawsuit to an end.
“It’s great news for investors. It gives us a clarity about our strategy going forward. It shows that our strategy will be consistent, it’s clear, and it’s very sustainable,” Lachlan Murdoch said, according to a report from The Washington Post posted on X.
“We are very pleased to be able to move forward and remain focused on the path that we’re on,” he said.
Lachlan Murdoch is on stage at the Goldman Sachs Cornucopia conference.
Murdoch on the big settlement this week:
“It’s great news for investors. It gives us a clarity about our strategy going forward. It shows that our strategy will be consistent, it’s clear, and it’s very…
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) September 10, 2025
The agreement, announced Monday, is worth $3.3 billion, The New York Times reported, citing “a person with knowledge of the negotiations.”
The New York Times report said each sibling will get $1.1 billion.
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Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch had sought to change the terms of the deal to ensure that Lachlan, more conservative than his siblings, kept control of media outlets.
The new trust will include Lachlan Murdoch, 54, and two younger sisters, Grace and Chloe. That trust will keep the controlling stake in Fox Corp. and News Corp.
The new leadership trust will not end until 2050.
The deal that created the now-dissolved trust was made by Rupert Murdoch when he divorced his second wife, Anna Mann.
The settlement “removes any risk that a change to Fox News’ politics would degrade the value of Fox’s assets,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a note, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“This resolution of the Murdoch Family Trust should remove an overhang on Fox because of the many different permutations investors needed to weigh that could have negatively impacted the value of the company,” Fishman wrote.
“Fox can now turn its attention fully toward strategic initiatives without fear of a succession standstill if the issue had remained unresolved a few years down the line,” he wrote.
“Now that Lachlan Murdoch has cemented control in a post-Rupert world, we would not be surprised to see an increased level of aggressiveness around M&A,” Lightshed analyst Rich Greenfield wrote in reference to mergers and acquisitions.
“While Fox bought back $1.25 billion of stock in 2025, with the company dramatically outperforming its industry peers, the company is sitting on considerable balance sheet firepower,” he wrote.
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