Murdoch family feud ends with £2.4billion settlement handing Lachlan full control

The settlement follows months of legal disputes that threatened to fracture the conservative media group.

Outlets including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post will now remain under Lachlan's stewardship, preserving what 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch has described as the "protector of the conservative voice in the English-speaking world."

Do you have a money story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing money@gbnews.uk.

The family row stemmed from a trust set up after Rupert’s 1999 divorce from his second wife Anna Mann. It gave his four eldest children equal control after his death, preventing him from naming a successor.

Rupert and Lachlan tried to amend the trust under "Project Family Harmony," a move that triggered a six-day Nevada court battle last year.

Probate commissioner Edmund Gorman branded the scheme "a carefully crafted charade" to cement Lachlan’s control and accused Rupert’s allies, including former US Attorney General Bill Barr, of breaching fiduciary duties.

Talks resumed in March at New York’s Harvard Club, with Rupert’s confidante Rebekah Brooks also involved. By May, negotiations nearly collapsed when the siblings demanded tax liabilities be covered by a new trust — a condition Lachlan rejected.

The final agreement creates a new family trust with Lachlan and Rupert’s younger daughters, Grace and Chloe, securing control until 2050 and avoiding dilution when the old trust expired in 2030.

Fox confirmed on Monday that all litigation has been dropped.

The deal allows Lachlan to consolidate leadership for the next quarter-century, while the departing siblings cash out at far higher valuations than previous offers.

James Murdoch, who has publicly criticised Fox for "lying" to its audience and condemned his father’s leadership, has now formally cut ties.

The outcome ensures the Murdoch family retains control of the empire Rupert’s father Keith founded nearly a century ago.

The $3.3billion settlement equates to £2.4billion, with each of the three siblings receiving £810million from the buyout.

The deal is being funded through a partial sale of trust-held stock, organised by Morgan Stanley in a block trade to institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds.

Legal advisers on the complex restructuring included Skadden Arps for Lachlan, with Prudence, Elisabeth and James represented by Centerview Partners and Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

The original trust, incorporated in Nevada nearly three decades ago, had granted equal voting rights to Rupert’s four eldest children after his death.

Grace and Chloe Murdoch, daughters from Rupert’s marriage to Wendi Deng, had previously held only economic rights without voting power.

By establishing the new trust, Rupert has ensured they join Lachlan as beneficiaries, while simultaneously removing Prudence, Elisabeth and James from influence.

The earlier attempt to alter the trust under the code name "Project Harmony" was struck down last year, with a Nevada commissioner accusing Rupert and his advisers of acting in bad faith.

The outcome secures Lachlan’s stewardship of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Sun and other titles long seen as central to the political right in the US, UK and Australia.

For Rupert, the conclusion provides certainty that his empire will remain conservative-aligned even after his death, an ambition he has pursued since first entering the British newspaper market in the 1960s.

It also ends years of speculation over whether James, who has publicly criticised Fox, would attempt to steer the company in a different editorial direction.

The agreement represents both a dynastic closure and a corporate realignment, locking in Lachlan’s authority until at least 2050 through the newly constructed trust.