A real-life legal drama involving Rupert Murdoch’s trust was reportedly sparked by the hit HBO series "Succession," which gave audiences a glimpse inside the fictional world of a family dynasty and the ensuing power struggle among its members.
Call it an example of life imitating art, but the episode hasn't come to a conclusion just yet.
Murdoch’s plan to change his family’s trust to give full control of the Fox News empire to his son Lachlan, who is seen as being more conservative than his other siblings, was slapped down by a Nevada commissioner over the weekend, The New York Times reported. The publication added that the 93-year-old’s goal in the legal maneuver was to ensure Fox News maintained its right-wing editorial slant after his death.
But the family turmoil that spilled into a Nevada courtroom may never have transpired if it wasn’t for the Emmy award-winning series “Succession," which is loosely based on the Murdoch family dynasty. Sealed in-person testimony in September revealed that Murdoch’s “children had started secretly discussing the public-relations strategy for their father’s death in April 2023," the Times reported.
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“Setting off these discussions was the episode of the HBO drama ‘Succession,’ the commissioner wrote, ‘where the patriarch of the family dies, leaving his family and business in chaos.’ The episode prompted Elisabeth’s representative to the trust, Mark Devereux, to write a ‘Succession’ memo’ intended to help avoid a real-life repeat,” according to the report.
It added that while significant, the commissioner’s ruling is not the end of the case. The commissioner acts as a “special master,” but a district judge is then responsible for ratifying or rejecting the recommendation, the report said.
“The court, after considering the facts of this case in the light of the law, sees the cards for what they are and concludes this raw deal will not, over the signature of this probate commissioner, prevail,” the commissioner’s ruling stated.
But there are other avenues for Murdoch to pursue to ultimately get his way, the publication noted.
“If Mr. Murdoch and Lachlan do not succeed in court, they could pursue other means to consolidate Lachlan’s power,” the report said. “One way would be for Lachlan to buy out his siblings’ stake in the company.”