Why did Rupert Murdoch want to amend family trust? Reason explained as court rejects plea

The New York Times on Monday reported that the commissioner of a probate court in Nevada, Las Vegas has rejected the bid by Rupert Murdoch to change his family trust to transfer control of the Fox Corp and News Corp to his older son, Lachlan Murdoch (current Fox CEO).

According to CNN, citing an individual with direct knowledge, the Commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman Jr, who heard the testimonies of the Murdoch family over several days on Sunday rejected Murdoch Senior's bid to amend the bill and said that Rupert Murdoch and his representatives were acting in "bad faith".

According to the Associated Press, Commissioner Gorman Jr concluded by saying that,

The effort was an attempt to stack the deck in Lachlan Murdoch’s favor after Rupert Murdoch’s passing so that his succession would be immutable. (...) 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.

Why did Rupert Murdoch want to amend the family trust?

According to multiple reports, the Family Trust currently ensures that Rupert Murdoch's four children (Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James) will have an equal say in how Fox News and News Corp will operate after his death, i.e., they will have equal voting powers.

According to multiple news outlets, Rupert Murdoch and his media companies are reportedly known for conservative political views and cater to a large right-wing and conservative audience and he wants his business values to remain the same. But, some of his children, namely James and Elisabeth Murdoch, are not as conservative as he or his elder son Lachlan.

So, to ensure that his media businesses maintain their conservative stance, Rupert Murdoch filed a case in a probate court in Las Vegas to amend the Family Trust, so that he could transfer the control of his media business to his son, Lachlan Murdoch, who shares his conservative ideologies. The other three Murdoch children contested the case in court as they disagreed with their father's decision, CNN reports.

After hearing testimonies from the Murdoch family members over multiple days, the commissioner of the probate court rejected Murdoch's bid to amend the Family Trust and issued a 96-page opinion on the case, which is sealed.

According to the Associated Press, citing Rupert Murdoch's lawyer, Murdoch and Lachlam are disappointed with the court's decision and will appeal the decision.

A spokesperson for Prudence, Elisabeth, and James Murdoch informed the Associated Press via an email that they are happy with the decision and hope the family can rebuild their relationship.