① The succession war between the four Murdocks brothers and sisters will enter legal proceedings this week, which will determine the future development direction of News Group; ② News Group shareholder Starboard Value Fund called for non-Murdoch shareholders to join forces to abolish the dual ownership structure to crack down on the Murdoch family's controlling interest.
AFP, September 10 (Editor Malan) Media mogul Murdoch's family succession battle began this week. On Monday, the US District Court of Nevada will hold a pre-trial status meeting before scheduling a series of hearings next week.
In this trial, the court will review the transfer of control of the Murdoch Family Trust. Previously, Murdoch hoped that after him, the trust would be handed over to his eldest son Lachlan, which meant that much of the voting rights of the News Group and Fox controlled by the Trust would belong to Lachlan.
However, as beneficiaries of the trust, Murdoch's other adult children, Prudence, James, and Elizabeth, objected to this and demanded that the family trust be inherited in accordance with the original principle of equal sharing. The three did not hesitate to take their dad Murdoch to court to defend their interests in Murdoch's media empire.
The outcome of this trial will directly affect the future development direction of many mainstream newspapers and media, including Fox News, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and The Times. If Murdoch wins, these media will continue to speak out for conservatives under Lachlan's leadership; and if Murdoch fails, it will be difficult for News Corp not to fall into the pain of a split camp.
Attempts to seize power
At a time when the Murdoch family is starting a legal battle over the inheritance rights issue, News Group's shareholders are unwilling to show weakness and want to have more presence.
Activist Investors — In a letter to shareholders, hedge fund Starboard Value called for News Corp to abolish the dual ownership structure and merge non-voting shares with voting shares to end the Murdoch family's absolute holding.
Among media companies, dual ownership structures are common. The New York Times and Paramount Media all adopt similar structures to ensure absolute ownership of the controlling interest. In News Corp, the Murdoch family controlled 14% of the non-voting shares, but controlled 41% of the group's voting rights through trusts.
Jeffrey C. Smith, founder of Starboard Value, questioned the fact that the four “Murdocks” who have voting rights have very different worldviews, and that the combination of these people will hinder the development of News Corp., and he cannot accept the fact that the journalistic orientation of these four people is far more important than other shareholders.
However, the Starboard Value proposal is likely only a paper appeal, and it is difficult to realistically threaten Murdoch's power; since the letter is not binding, the board of directors is under no obligation to act.
However, this experiment is not new. In 2015, 90% of non-Murdoch family shareholders agreed to abolish News Group's dual shareholding structure, which was equivalent to 49.5% of the turnout, but in the end, they lost to the Murdoch family.
Smith is probably well aware of this, and continues to stress that if more people are willing to support his idea, this will send a more clear and direct signal to News Corp's board of directors.