Rupert Murdoch loses bid to hand control of the empire to eldest son

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A probate commissioner has spoken out against Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to change his family’s trust by giving one of his sons control of his media empire and allowing Fox News to keep his maintains a conservative editorial slant, according to a sealed document obtained by The New York Times.

In a decision filed Saturday, a Nevada probate commissioner concluded that Murdoch, 93, and his son, Lachlan Murdoch, had acted in bad faith in their attempt to modify the irrevocable trust. The New York Times reports this on Monday.

The trust divides control of the company equally among four of them Rupert Murdoch’s children – Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James – after he dies. Lachlan Murdoch has been head of Fox News and News Corp since late last year, then his father got off.

The elder Murdoch has argued that to preserve the commercial value of his company for all his heirs, the trust must be changed to allow Lachlan Murdoch to maintain Fox News’ conservative leanings. James and Elisabeth Murdoch are both known to have less conservative political views than their father or brother, potentially complicating efforts to ensure Fox News remains conservative.

In his 96-page opinion, Nevada Probate Commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr. characterized of the Second Judicial District Court the plan to alter the trust as a “carefully engineered charade” to “permanently strengthen Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” within the empire “regardless of the impact such control would have on the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust.

Adam Streisand, a lawyer for Rupert Murdoch, told the newspaper that his client and his client’s son were disappointed with the ruling and planned to appeal.

A spokesperson for Prudence, Elisabeth and James Murdoch said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that they welcome the ruling and hope their family can “move beyond this lawsuit and focus on strengthening and rebuilding the relationships between all family members.”

Gorman said in his conclusion: “The attempt was an attempt to stack the deck in Lachlan Murdoch’s favor following the death of Rupert Murdoch so that his succession would be unchangeable. The piece could have worked; but in an evidentiary hearing, like a showdown in a game of poker, gamesmanship collides with the facts and at the end all bluffs are called and the cards are dealt face up.”

He added: “The court, after considering the facts of this case in light of the law, sees the cards for what they are and concludes that this raw deal, over the signature of this probate commissioner, will not prevail. ”