On an overcast September morning, Rupert Murdoch emerged from a white SUV and made his way toward the copper dome and looming pillars of the Washoe County Courthouse in downtown Reno. The 93-year-old media giant clutched the hand of Elena Zhukova, a former Russian scientist and his fifth wife, as they climbed the stairs together and disappeared underneath the cavernous doorway. Soon after, his eldest son Lachlan arrived with his wife, a subtle smile on his face as he followed his father into the courthouse. Inside, three of Rupert’s other children — James, Elisabeth and Prudence — waited.
Ahead of the family was a week of high-stakes hearings kept behind closed doors. The legal showdown could determine the fate of Rupert’s sprawling multibillion-dollar empire, consisting of both News Corp and Fox Corporation, which own dozens of outlets, including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. The family, split into two factions, turned up in Nevada — a state that offers high confidentiality in legal matters of family trust disputes — to answer a very big question: Who will control the family media empire after Rupert’s death?
That question was supposed to be settled after Rupert announced his retirement in 2023 and Lachlan was named CEO of the Fox/News Corp powerhouse. The company’s voting shares controlled by the Murdoch family, roughly 40 percent, were to be distributed equally between the four eldest children after Rupert’s passing. Everything seemed future-proofed…