en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_of_Rupert_Murdoch
4 corrections found
On December 9, 2024, probate commissioner Edmund Gorman Jr. ruled against Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.
The ruling was issued on Saturday, December 7, 2024; December 9 was when news outlets reported it, not the date of the decision itself.
Full reasoning
Reporting after the sealed opinion became public said Commissioner Edmund Gorman Jr. issued the decision on Saturday, two days before December 9. ABC News reported on December 10 that Gorman 'issued his decision on Saturday,' and Reuters-based coverage likewise said the decision was 'filed on Saturday.' So December 9, 2024 is the reporting date, not the date the ruling was issued.
2 sources
- Rupert Murdoch loses legal fight to change family trust - ABC News
Edmund Gorman Jr., probate commissioner for the Second Judicial District Court in Reno, Nevada, issued his decision on Saturday.
- Rupert Murdoch fails in bid to change family trust, New York Times reports | MarketScreener (Reuters)
Nevada commissioner Edmund Gorman concluded in a decision filed on Saturday that Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan ... had acted in 'bad faith' in their effort to amend the irrevocable trust.
Rupert moved the trust to Nevada, a decision that would favor Lachlan for the state's probate law.
The Murdoch Family Trust was already governed by Nevada law years earlier, so it was not newly 'moved' there in 2023 or 2024.
Full reasoning
This sentence is contradicted by earlier SEC filings. A 2015 Schedule 13G/A for Twenty-First Century Fox states that the Murdoch Family Trust is governed by Nevada law and lists its address in Reno, Nevada. A 2019 Fox Corporation Schedule 13G says the same thing. That means the trust was already a Nevada trust well before the succession fight described here, so the article's statement that Rupert Murdoch later 'moved the trust to Nevada' is inaccurate.
In other words: Nevada may well have been important to the dispute, but the trust was already under Nevada law years before the 2024 litigation.
2 sources
- Amendment No. 17 to Schedule 13G (SEC)
As of December 31, 2014, the Murdoch Family Trust was the beneficial owner of 306,623,480 Shares... The Murdoch Family Trust is a trust governed by Nevada law whose trustee is Cruden Financial Services.
- Schedule 13G for Fox Corporation (SEC)
As of March 19, 2019, the Murdoch Family Trust was the beneficial owner of 102,207,826 Shares... The Murdoch Family Trust is a trust governed by Nevada law whose trustee is Cruden Financial Services.
appointed the chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp in September 2023.
Lachlan Murdoch did not become chair of both companies in September 2023. Fox's official announcement said Rupert would step down at the mid-November annual meetings; after that, Lachlan would become sole chair of News Corp and continue as Fox's executive chair and CEO.
Full reasoning
Fox Corporation's own September 21, 2023 announcement does not say Lachlan was appointed chair of both Fox and News Corp in September. Instead, it says Rupert Murdoch's step-down would take effect at the companies' mid-November 2023 annual general meetings. It further says that following those meetings, Lachlan Murdoch would become sole Chair of News Corp and continue as Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Corporation.
So this article compresses and changes the transition in a misleading way: the News Corp chairmanship took effect after the November meetings, not in September, and Fox's announcement describes Lachlan as continuing as Fox's Executive Chair rather than being newly appointed chair of Fox in September 2023.
1 source
- K. Rupert Murdoch to be Appointed Chairman Emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp - foxcorporation
Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of each board effective as of the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of each company in mid-November... Following the Annual General Meetings, Lachlan Murdoch will become sole Chair of News Corp and continue as Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Corporation.
The trial concluded on September 23, 2024. The court had ruled against Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch
The September 23, 2024 hearing ended without a public ruling; Reuters reported the outcome was still unclear then. The adverse ruling was reported later, in December 2024.
Full reasoning
This wording incorrectly ties the ruling to the end of the September 23, 2024 hearing. Reuters reported on September 23 that the hearing had concluded 'though the outcome remained unclear.' Later reporting on December 9, 2024 said Commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr. issued the adverse ruling over that weekend.
So while it is true that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch ultimately lost, the article is wrong to present that ruling as if it had already happened when the trial concluded on September 23.
2 sources
- Judge concludes hearing to determine fate of Murdoch media empire | MarketScreener (Reuters)
A hearing to determine control of Rupert Murdoch's global television and publishing empire concluded Monday in a Reno, Nevada, courtroom, though the outcome remained unclear.
- Rupert Murdoch cannot hand control of his media empire to one son - Los Angeles Times
That commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman Jr., said in a ruling over the weekend that the elder Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch had acted in 'bad faith' in their attempt to rewrite the trust.