RENO, Nevada (AP) — Rupert Murdoch and four of his children appeared behind closed doors before the Nevada state estate administrator on Monday for an evidentiary hearing that could determine who controls the media empire after Murdoch’s death.
The hearing is scheduled to resume on Tuesday and extend into next week after Murdoch, 93, filed a motion last year to change the terms of his irrevocable family trust.
The New York Times reported, based on a sealed Washoe County court document, that this was part of an attempt to ensure that his eldest son, Lachlanremains responsible for the newspapers and television networks, which include the Wall Street Journal and the Fox News Channel.
The court held the hearings behind closed doors and sealed most of the documents. Requests for access from news organizations such as the Associated Press were largely denied.
The trust was originally set up to give Rupert Murdoch’s four eldest children equal control over his companies after his death, the Times reported.
Murdoch resigned as head of Fox News’ parent company and its media holdings, News Corp., last fall. He argues that the trust must be changed to preserve the commercial value of his companies for any of his heirs, so Lachlan can ensure his newspapers and television stations continue to have a conservative editorial bias, the Times reported.
Lachlan succeeded his father as chairman of News Corp. in November. He is also an executive at Fox Corp., which houses the conservative news network Fox News, the Fox broadcast and sports networks, and local television stations. The media empire spans continents and has helped shape modern American politics.
In his attempt to change the trust, Rupert Murdoch is at odds with his three other children named as beneficiaries, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, who have joined forces to stop their father from changing the trust, the Times reported.
Irrevocable trusts are typically used to limit inheritance taxes, among other things, and cannot be changed without the permission of the beneficiaries or by a court order.
Nevada State Executor Edmund J. Gorman of the Second Judicial District in Reno ruled this summer that Rupert Murdoch could modify the trust if he could prove he was acting in good faith and solely for the benefit of his heirs, the Times reported.
The court’s decision states that Murdoch sought to give Lachlan permanent and sole control of his companies because the mogul feared that a lack of consensus among his children could affect the strategic direction of its businesses and possibly also lead to a change in editorial policy and content, the Times report said.
The hearing is scheduled to last until next week. There are over 40 lawyers on the court list.
The first carloads of lawyers began arriving an hour before the hearing began Monday, some of them handing out boxes of legal documents and lugging them up the courthouse steps past a crowd of reporters with cameras and a half-dozen sheriff’s deputies, a few blocks south of Reno’s main casino district.
Next, James Murdoch, his wife Karen and his sister Elisabeth Murdoch arrived in separate vehicles in the same convoy of black SUVs. About 20 minutes later, Rupert Murdoch arrived with his wife, followed by Lachlan Murdoch and his wife Sarah.
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Veiga reported from Los Angeles
