Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, in 2017.
Photo: AFP / Getty Images / Drew Angerer
A Nevada commissioner has ruled against Rupert Murdoch’s bid to change his family trust to consolidate control of his media empire in the hands of his son Lachlan, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing a sealed court document.
Nevada commissioner Edmund Gorman concluded in a decision filed on Saturday that Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan, who is the head of Fox News parent Fox Corp and News Corp , had acted in “bad faith” in their effort to amend the irrevocable trust, the Times reported.
The trust currently would divide control of the company equally among Rupert Murdoch’s four oldest children – Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence – after his death.
In his opinion, Gorman said the plan to change the trust was a “carefully crafted charade” to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” inside the empire “regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust, the Times said.
A lawyer for Rupert Murdoch, Adam Streisand, said they were disappointed with the ruling and intended to appeal, the Times reported.
– Reuters