Inside the Murdoch money battle tearing the family apart

The latest chapter in the Murdoch family’s battle for power is straight out of ‘Succession’, writes Chris Blackhurst. Rupert has codenamed his plan to divide control of his media empire ‘Project Harmony’, but the legal battle raging in the US shows it is anything but harmonious...

Rupert Murdoch (PA Archive)

When is $2bn not enough? When you’re James Murdoch and it’s given to you by your father, Rupert.

James’s lack of gratitude has earned him the sobriquet “the troublesome beneficiary” among Rupert’s lawyers. Presumably, the 93-year-old mogul has a less understated, not so polite, phrase of his own for his younger son. Certainly, Logan Roy from Succession would have one, if his son Kendall were behaving in such a fashion.

It’s impossible not to compare the latest machinations within the Murdoch dynasty with the hit TV series. As in Succession, the Murdochs’ feuding involves glamorous lifestyles and mind-boggling sums – with $2bn handed to each of Rupert’s six children in 2019 – and show-stopping scenes, such as his daughter Elisabeth reportedly hurling a string of expletives at the old man in December last year, when he told her and her sister Prudence of his plan to rewrite the terms of the family trust so that favoured son Lachlan would secure control of the media empire.

That was followed last month by Rupert’s wedding to Elena Zhukova, his fifth wife, at his California vineyard. Absent were Elisabeth, Prudence and James. Lachlan attended, of course. Looking at the photographs of the happy couple, you’re left wondering what Murdoch was really thinking; behind those eyes, was he boiling with anger?

Rupert Murdoch, 93, with his new wife Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired Russian biologist (News Corp/PA)

The official root cause is a divergence of political views. Lachlan is right-wing – the same as, if not more so than, his father. The three other children from his first two marriages – he has two younger daughters with Wendi Deng, who are not party to the turmoil – are more liberally inclined. Apparently, they cannot be trusted to maintain the identity of the Murdoch brand.

In Rupert’s eyes, they risk destroying the commercial value of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun, along with his other newspaper and TV outlets. So, after initially promising that they would each have an equal share and an equal say, he is going to court in September to argue that, by changing the trust so that Lachlan is in charge, he is acting in good faith and for their sole benefit.

He’s called the move – which is said to be aimed at restoring love and peace within the family before he dies – “Project Harmony”. Though you cannot help but wonder whether the cynic in him isn’t also sniggering. Harmonious it most definitely is not.

Rupert’s lawyers, led by Adam Streisand (who fought cases involving the Michael Jackson and Britney Spears estates), claim that Project Harmony is motivated by the best of intentions, that it’s an attempt to bring order and calm – and that if four of Rupert’s children were to have an equal say, they would be forever squabbling over the leadership as the leftie trio tried to water down the group’s politics, disrupting the business operation.

It’s hard to imagine that, even if Rupert wins and Lachlan is confirmed as being in charge, it will be the end of the feuding. Years of appeals and counterclaims must surely be on the cards. By seeking a trial now, Rupert may only have succeeded in triggering batteries of lawsuits and recrimination.

In truth, however, all he’s done is to bring into the open something that was always going to explode. What’s intriguing is that Rupert has stressed his desire to continue leaning rightwards after the British general election resulted in a Labour landslide and his UK newspapers came out for Labour (albeit with caveats) – and when the US presidential race appears to have tightened, with the withdrawal of Joe Biden and his subsequent anointment of Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate. Undeterred, Rupert wishes his newspaper titles to stay on the right.

Rupert has convinced himself that his elder son Lachlan has the talent to succeed him (2020 Invision)

That is where their brand identity lies, so he is correct on that one – Fox News will have an audience on the right just as it does now, even if there is a Democratic victory. But what is really occurring here is that he has come to the simple conclusion that four bosses would never work – not least because they do not get on – and that there should only, therefore, be one.

What’s surprising is that he ever thought the four could be trusted to cooperate and steer the ship. Rupert’s own career has been defined by his single-minded approach; he does not enjoy partnerships.

He’s convinced himself that Lachlan has the talent required to succeed him – although, given the fact that Lachlan seems to be forever present at his side, Lachlan may have convinced Rupert that he has the ability.

Certainly at one stage, Rupert was not prepared to entrust the business to him. But Lachlan’s rise, while the focus of his siblings has been elsewhere – with Elisabeth running her independent TV production company; James having gone down the eco-project route and, in the process, dissed the Murdoch media, especially Fox, for its denial of the severity of climate change (to the fury of his father); and Prudence remaining untried, untested in the commercial arena – appears to have hardened his thinking.

The uncomfortable reality for Rupert is that none of them, including Lachlan, will ever be as good as him. Towards the end of Succession, Logan Roy delivers a heartfelt speech to his children. He tells them how much he loves them, but then says: “You are not serious people.” It’s the last line he ever speaks to them.