As the Murdochs take their succession battle to court, industry insiders warn the end of the dynasty may be in sight.
The Murdoch family brawl playing out in a courtroom in Reno, Nevada , has rattled investors in both Fox and News Corp orations, and now the sharks are circling.The family is bitterly divided over the governance of the secret Murdoch Family Trust which gives them control of Fox and News, and is facing a revolt from News Corp shareholders mounting a direct challenge to the mechanism by which the Murdochs run the empire.
"The situation at News Corp is a textbook example of one of the worst forms of a dual-class share structure — one that extends beyond any reasonable timeline and one in which super-voting rights are moving from a visionary founder to the founder's children," the resolution reads. Back then, it was supported by more than 90 per cent of non-Murdoch shareholders and 49.5 per cent of all voting shareholders — just short of success.Another investor, Matt Williams, head of Australian equities at Airlie Funds Management — one of the largest holders of News Corp's voting shares with a 2 per cent stake — is also planning to back the resolution."In terms of News Corp itself, I think Lachlan has been a very good chairman.
If successful, the move would give Lachlan unassailable control of the staunchly conservative media empire. The former executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while there had frequently been disputes in the Murdoch family, eldest daughter Prudence had always sat comfortably on the fence and the fact that she was now teamed up with James and Elisabeth showed the conflict had "gone nuclear"."This is a story directly out of Shakespeare," he said.
"If they fired all the on-air talent that rates and replaced it and said it's all former MSNBC-style of people, I honestly believe the earnings would halve, and the value would halve."Aitken said if Rupert and Lachlan were to lose, they were unlikely to sit around waiting for James, Prudence and Elisabeth to take over the empire.
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