Rupert Murdoch‘s court battle over the future of his media empire has begun with scenes that could have come out of the TV show Succession.
Lawyers for the media tycoon, 93, argued behind closed doors, with the press and public barred from entry, that he should hand control of his empire to his oldest son Lachlan, 53.
Murdoch and his four eldest children arrived in convoys of blacked out SUVs at the courthouse in the seedy Reno, Nevada, downtown.
In a jarring contrast to the family’s extraordinary wealth, a casino two blocks away was selling $6 daiquiris for breakfast.
Across the road from the Beaux Arts courthouse, two homeless people sat on concrete benches eating breakfast out of a plastic bag.
Rupert Murdoch arrives for a court battle over the future of his media empire, holding hands with his fifth wife, Russian biologist Elena Zhukova
Murdoch’s lawyers argued he should hand control of his empire to his oldest son Lachlan, 53, who arrived with his wife Sarah
Murdoch is said to be worried his other children would push Fox News in a more liberal direction, to the claimed detriment of the business
A staggering 79 lawyers are listed as working on the case, which will go on for the rest of this week.
Officially called an ‘evidentiary hearing’, it amounts to a five-day bench trial with witnesses and reams of evidence.
At stake is $15 billion in assets owned by the Murdoch family estate, which controls Murdoch’s media assets including cable news channel Fox News.
News Corp is also the parent company of the Times, Sun, New York Post, and Wall Street Journal newspapers, and many other titles.
Under the terms of the divorce from his second wife Anna in 1999, their four children have equal influence with one vote each – Murdoch himself has one as well.
Now Murdoch is trying to hand his vote to Lachlan, his chosen successor, who will be able to outvote his three siblings: Prudence, 65, Elisabeth, 55, and James, 51.
Murdoch is said to be worried Prudence, Elisabeth, and James would push Fox News in a more liberal direction, to the claimed detriment of the business.
James Murdoch walks towards the courthouse with his wife Kathryn Hufschmid
James was chief executive of 21 Century Fox before it was sold to Disney, then quit the News Corp board in 2020 over disagreements with his father and Lachlan over editorial content and strategic direction
Elisabeth Murdoch arrives with her husband Keith Tyson to oppose her father’s plans
First to arrive was Prudence, who appeared to have flown in from Australia for the hearing
Their convoy of five SUVs was from a company marked ‘Presidential’ on the side, two filled with lawyers, some of whom carried boxes of legal documents
Lawyers for Murdoch will have to persuade probate commissioner Edmund Gorman that his actions will benefit everyone in the trust.
But the power grab has already been described as the kind of move that seems like a storyline out of Succession, which was loosely based on the Murdoch dynasty.
The hearing was carefully managed by the Second Judicial District in Washoe County and photographers ordered to stand on the steps of the courthouse with five armed court security officers and corporate security standing watch.
First to arrive were Prudence, who appears to have flown in from Australia for the hearing, James, and Elisabeth, who were with the respective spouses, Kathryn Hufschmid, and Keith Tyson.
Only Elisabeth responded when asked for comment by shaking her head.
Their convoy of five SUVs was from a company marked ‘Presidential’ on the side, two filled with lawyers, some of whom carried boxes of legal documents.
Murdoch and Lachlan arrived second in a convoy of three SUVs, also with blacked out windows.
Murdoch and his four eldest children arrived in convoys of blacked out SUVs at the courthouse in the seedy Reno, Nevada , downtown
Across the road from the Beaux Arts courthouse, two homeless people sat on concrete benches eating breakfast out of a plastic bag
Murdoch was holding hands with his fifth wife, Russian biologist Elena Zhukova, and shook his head when asked for comment as he walked up the courthouse steps.
Lachlan waited for his father to enter before following him, hand-in-hand with his wife Sarah.
Also arriving at court was former US attorney general Bill Barr, who is said to be leading the efforts to rewrite the trust for Murdoch. He declined to comment.
Lawyers for Murdoch were seen carrying in several boxes with labels on the side reading ‘witness binder’ and ‘digital print’. Another read ‘deposition exhibits’,
The case is happening in Reno due to its favorable probate laws that guarantee privacy.
In Murdoch’s case, that means the 500-plus documents that have been filed since last October are under seal, and therefore not public.
Probate commissioner Edmund Gorman said the interests of the public did not outweigh the fact the case was a private matter.
Pictured left to right: James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch
The power grab has already been described as the kind of move that seems like a storyline out of Succession, a TV show loosely based on the Murdoch dynasty
Only last week, James (right) – who now oversees an investment firm – publicly endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for November’s presidential election
Only after a torrent of media inquiries did the court even put any information up on its website, and even then the parties were referred to as ‘Doe’ rather than by their names.
There is no mention of Murdoch by name, instead the matter is listed as ‘PR23-00813 – **SEALED** TRUST: THE DOE 1 TRUST’
Several US media outlets including CNN and the New York Times did try to gain access to the hearings, but their application was rejected by a judge.
A local nonprofit, Our Nevada Judges, which advocates for greater access to Nevada courts, also joined in the efforts.
‘The public have a right to know what’s happening inside the court,’ its founder Alex Falconi said.
‘This case involved Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. It’s obviously worthy of public scrutiny.’
The only concession by the court was that the names of lawyers and other non-parties were made public.