Rupert Murdoch’s latest legal dispute is with his kids

The heir-raising battle continues

7/26/24 10:01AM

The Murdochs are, once again, doing absolutely nothing to discourage the Succession comparisons…

On Wednesday, the NYT revealed that billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch has been embroiled in a secret legal battle with 3 of his children since late 2023 over the political future of his sprawling news and TV empire.

According to a previously sealed court document, voting control in the event of the 93-year-old’s passing is the issue at the heart of the matter. Per the current terms of the Murdoch family trust, voting powers at Fox Corp. and News Corp. would be distributed among his 4 oldest children — Rupert wants to change that by giving his son Lachlan (the eldest boy) sole power, reportedly in an effort to maintain the conservative leanings of his many vastly influential media properties.

The Empire, unpacked

Murdoch constructed his portfolio over the course of 7 decades, building on a string of local Australian newspapers with several acquisitions in the British (The News of the World, The Sun) and American (The New York Post, WSJ) media markets, before buying 20th Century Fox in 1985. Cut to present day, and Rupert Murdoch is worth ~$20 billion, per Forbes estimates, with Fox Corp. and News Corp. combining to bring in almost $25 billion in revenue last year.

A trial to determine whether Rupert is acting in good faith by edging some of his children out, and therefore should be able to amend the trust, is expected to play out in September — presumably with many more eyes on the matter, but none more so than the three Murdochs who’ve formed a united legal front against their father.

Hyunsoo Rim

in this econemy

17h

Magnum, the world’s largest ice cream maker, just went public at a ~$9.2 billion valuation

Unilever’s newly spun-off ice cream arm says its business is far from “volatile” and that GLP-1s may dent demand less than feared.

Claire Yubin Oh

Scentsible

12/5/25

Estée Lauder’s Jo Malone is launching an “AI Scent Advisor” to convince people to buy perfumes without smelling them

Gen Z is driving a perfume and fragrance boom.

Max Knoblauch12/4/25

Netflix is down amid reports it’s leading the Warner Bros. bidding war as Paramount cries foul

Netflix’s charm offensive appears to be working.

Netflix is reportedly emerging as the leader in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery after second-round bids this week, edging out entertainment juggernaut rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance.

Investors don’t appear psyched by the streaming leader’s turn of fortune: the stock is down on Thursday morning, a day after closing down nearly 5% following reports that scooping up HBO Max wouldn’t necessarily result in a big market share boost.

Paramount, which has reportedly made five bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, doesn’t love the current state of play, either. The company sent WBD a letter questioning the “fairness and adequacy” of the process, highlighting reports that WBD’s board favors Netflix and is resisting Paramount.

Any offer would be subject to regulatory approval — a fact that may have weighed against Netflix’s offer given that cofounder Reed Hastings’ politics are vocally to the left, very much at odds with the current regulatory regime. Paramount seems confident in its ability to get approval, reportedly boosting its breakup fee to $5 billion should its potential acquisition fall apart in the regulatory process.

Paramount questions Warner Bros. Discovery on 'fairness and adequacy' of sale process: Read the full letter

Hyunsoo Rim

PEAK CONSULTING?

12/3/25

After three decades of pretty constant growth, the consultancy boom just hit an AI-shaped wall

Accenture has a new deal with OpenAI — did ChatGPT’s launch top-tick consulting employment?

Human hand and AI hand on the yellow background

Max Knoblauch12/3/25

Delta says the government shutdown will cost it $200 million in Q4

The 43-day government shutdown that ended last month will result in a $200 million ding for Delta Air Lines, the airline said in a filing on Wednesday.

That’s about $100,000 per shutdown-related canceled flight. (Delta previously said it canceled more than 2,000 flights due to FAA flight reductions.) When the company reports its fourth-quarter earnings, the shutdown will lop off about $0.25 per share.

Delta initially stayed calm about the shutdown, with CEO Ed Bastian stating in early October that the company was running smoothly and hadn’t seen any impacts at all. One historically long shutdown later, Delta wasn’t able to remain untouched.

The skies have since cleared, though, and Delta’s filing states that booking growth has “returned to initial expectations following a temporary softening in November.”

Delta’s shares were up over 2% as of Wednesday’s market open.

Delta Air Sees $200 Million Hit from Shutdown Fallout