The Murdoch trust: $3.3 billion to settle what an irrevocable document was supposed to prevent

The Murdoch Family Trust was set up in 1999. It held, through dual-class shares, 41 per cent of the voting power in News Corp and Fox Corporation, despite owning only 14 per cent of the equity. Four of Rupert Murdoch’s six children held equal voting rights within it: Lachlan, Elisabeth, James, and Prudence. The two youngest, Chloe and Grace, held equal equity stakes but no votes. The trust was irrevocable.

For twenty-odd years, that arrangement held. Then Rupert decided it shouldn’t.

The attempt

In late 2023, Rupert Murdoch applied to change the trust’s terms using a procedure under Nevada law known as decanting. The goal was to concentrate all voting power in Lachlan, his eldest son and the executive running both companies. Rupert called the effort “Project Family Harmony”, a label that aged poorly once the other siblings discovered what it meant for their position.

The three older siblings contested the move. The case landed in the Nevada Second Judicial District Court, Washoe County, before probate commissioner Edmund Gorman Jr. The trial ran from 16 to 23 September 2024.

The ruling

On 9 December 2024, Gorman issued his decision. He sided with the three siblings. The commissioner found that Rupert, Lachlan, and their representatives had acted in bad faith. The language was sharp: Gorman described the entire process as “a carefully crafted charade.” The decanting was blocked. The trust’s original terms stood.

From a structuring perspective, the ruling matters well beyond this family. An irrevocable trust was tested under pressure, and the court held its ground. The fact that the trust’s settlor was the one trying to break it did not help his case. If anything, it made the court less sympathetic.

The settlement

Neither side wanted a prolonged appeal. On 8 September 2025, News Corp and Fox Corp announced that the dispute had been resolved through a new family trust. The terms:

Lachlan Murdoch receives sole voting control over both News Corp and Fox Corporation. That control extends to at least 2050.

Each of the three other older siblings, Elisabeth, James, and Prudence, receives approximately $1.1 billion. The total payout is $3.3 billion.

Chloe and Grace remain non-voting beneficiaries and are entitled to one-third of the trust’s assets at age 30.

What it tells you

There is a familiar pattern here. A founder builds a structure that distributes power across several children. Years later, the founder decides that equal distribution is a mistake and one child should have more. The trust was designed precisely to prevent that kind of post-hoc rethinking, and it did. But the legal fight cost time, exposed the family’s internal dynamics to judicial record, and ended with a very large cheque.

The people advising on trust structures tend to say that the hard part is not writing the documents. The hard part is making sure the family understands what the documents mean, long before anyone feels the need to test them. The Murdoch case is a $3.3 billion illustration of what happens when that conversation comes too late.