A secretive court battle over the future of Rupert Murdoch's media empire is underway in the US state of Nevada.
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00:00At 93 years of age, Rupert Murdoch is involved in yet another battle for the future of his
00:08media empire.
00:10But on this occasion, it's about what happens to his media empire after he dies.
00:15The sequence of arrivals today illustrates the schism at the heart of the Murdoch family.
00:22Rupert Murdoch arrived with his eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, who is his chosen successor
00:28and is currently the chair of both Fox Corporation and News Corporation.
00:34Arriving separately but together were the three other eldest Murdoch children, that
00:39is Prudence, Elizabeth and James Murdoch.
00:42And this is all about the future of the Murdoch family trust, which as it is currently written,
00:49will split control of the family trust between the four eldest children.
00:54But what Rupert and Lachlan want is for control to rest with Lachlan Murdoch, mainly because
01:00they're concerned that the other three children will vote away Lachlan's control.
01:05And that could mean the end of both News Corporation and Fox Corporation as a force for conservatism
01:13both here in the United States, but also in Australia and the United Kingdom.
01:18At risk are some of the most major media assets in those three countries, including newspapers
01:24like The Australian in Australia and Sky News.
01:27In the UK, you have The Times and The Sun newspapers.
01:31And here in the United States, you have The Wall Street Journal, but also perhaps most
01:35controversially Fox News, the cable news channel, which has been so influential here in the
01:42United States in politics.
01:44Michael Wolff has written a biography of Rupert Murdoch, and he says the stakes couldn't
01:49be higher for both Rupert and Lachlan.
01:52The Murdoch family business is headed for a breakup.
01:57Lachlan is headed to lose his job.
02:01Lachlan will lose his job when his father dies, as things now stand.
02:07This family trust was supposed to be irrevocable, but what Rupert and Lachlan need to convince
02:13the judge here in Reno is that the changes to the conditions of the trust will ensure
02:22all trustees receive benefit.
02:25That is not only the four eldest Murdoch children, but also Rupert Murdoch's two younger girls
02:31who he had with Wendy Deng, that is Chloe and Grace.
02:36But you did have this extraordinary scene this morning of the five Murdoch family members,
02:42Rupert, Lachlan, James, Prudence, and Elizabeth arriving at this court.
02:48We don't know what occurred inside because Nevada has very restrictive settings when
02:54it comes to these type of disputes, and there was no media access allowed despite the petitioning
03:01of the court by major news organizations including Reuters, CNN, and the New York Times.
03:08We are expecting that these proceedings could take at least a week.
03:13We may never know exactly what occurred within that courtroom, but they could have a major
03:20impact on the future of both Fox and news corporations, and could determine whether
03:25or not they remain a force for conservatism well after Rupert Murdoch passes away.