As the fate of fictional Waystar RoyCo played out on the hit HBO drama Succession, a real-life business rivalry heated up to determine the fate of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. A new Netflix docuseries examines how a battle over the family trust finally reached a breaking point.
Dynasty: The Murdochs, now streaming, examines how Murdoch built his fortune as the founder of News Corp. and chairman of Fox Corp. and its properties—becoming one of the world’s richest businessmen.
But as Rupert, now 95, grew older, he sought to avoid a family squabble that would pit his sons and daughters against one another. Ultimately, a 2025 settlement ensured he would get his wish—establishing son Lachlan Murdoch as the heir responsible for leading his businesses into the future.
Here’s everything you need to know about the key Murdoch family members involved and what the docuseries covers.
Who Are Rupert Murdoch’s Wives and Children?
Rupert Murdoch has married five times, his most recent union to wife Elena Zhukova in 2024. His previous spouses include Patrica Booker (married from 1956–1967), Anna Torv (1967–1999), Wendi Deng (1999–2013), and Jerry Hall (2016–2022).
Murdoch has six children: Prudence, born in August 1958 to Booker; Elisabeth (August 1968), Lachlan (September 1971), and James (December 1972) from his marriage to Torv; and Grace (November 2001) and Chloe (July 2003) from his relationship with Deng.
The Dynasty docuseries primarily focuses on middle siblings Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James, with the latter two primarily viewed as legitimate heirs to Rupert’s empire at different points.
Who Is Lachlan Murdoch?
Born in London, Lachlan primarily grew up in New York City. He attended elite private schools and, in 1994, graduated from Princeton University with a degree in philosophy, according to Britannica.
After school, Lachlan began a rapid rise through the family business. He became the chairman of News Limited—the holding company for all Australian properties of News Corp., Rupert’s media conglomerate founded in 1980—and later a deputy chief operating officer for News Corp., overseeing its television stations and print publishing.
The similarities between Rupert and Lachlan suggested he was the likeliest candidate to succeed the business mogul. “Lachlan is probably the most aligned with his father in terms of politics and in terms of his vision of the business,” Paul Verna, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, previously told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s not a lot of daylight between the two men.”
However, a father-son rift emerged in 2005 when Lachlan resigned from News Corp. amid disagreements with then-Fox News Channel head Roger Ailes. Feeling Rupert had sided with the channel’s founding CEO over him, Lachlan left the company and invested in various Australian businesses.
Nearly 10 years later, Lachlan reconciled with his father and returned, becoming co-chair of News Corp. and 21st Century Fox with his brother, James. However, their dueling political beliefs and vision for the company set the stage for family conflict.
How Was the Murdoch Family Trust Set Up?
While the two brothers were seen as the primary rivals for succession, any decision needed to include their older sisters Prudence and Elisabeth based on the structure of the family trust.
Rupert’s ex-wife Anna Torv demanded upon their divorce that each of their three kids together—Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James—and Prudence received an equal split of his business, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Each child had one vote in the trust, which consisted of shares controlling about 40 percent of both Fox and News Corp.
Biographer Michael Wolff, who wrote The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch, revealed patriarch Rupert agreed to pay his four eldest children $150 million each to allow the inclusion of daughters Grace and Chloe in the trust. However, Torv wouldn’t allow them to have voting rights.
While the siblings generally voted in unison, James opposed his brother’s proposed merger of Fox Corp. and News Corp., which was abandoned in 2023. James had already stepped down from the board of News Corp. in 2020, citing disagreements over editorial choices by some of the conglomerate’s news outlets.
Hoping to avoid a major family fissure, Rupert gave a final “Hail Mary” attempt—which backfired.
Why Did the Murdoch Family Go to Court Over Project Family Harmony?
In September 2023, Rupert announced his plans to step down as chairman of the board of both Fox Corp. and News Corp., and appointed Lachlan as sole chairman. “For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,” Rupert wrote to employees. “But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan.”
That December, Rupert attempted to modify the control structure of the family trust—a move ironically dubbed Project Family Harmony. According to NPR, the move was made to give Lachlan complete control of business matters with the claim it was in the best interest of all beneficiaries, including disenfranchised siblings Prudence, Elisabeth, and James. Court documents referred to the latter as a “troublesome beneficiary.”
Rupert informed his children of the attempted alterations over a Zoom call and didn’t speak to them beforehand, The Atlantic reporter McKay Coppins told NPR. “James is adamant even today that if Rupert had just said, ‘Hey, let’s all talk about this. I have some concerns about what's going to happen to these companies when I’m gone. Can we try to figure out a solution that will be to everybody’s benefit, whether that’s a buyout or, you know, some amendment to the trust that’s not quite as dramatic?’ James would have played ball. He would have been willing to talk it out,” Coppins explained.
Instead, the three siblings sued to block the amendment. They won, with a Nevada probate court ruling Rupert and Lachlan had acted in “bad faith.”
Appeal proceedings dragged on for more than a year, until one final offer provided an off-ramp.
How Did Lachlan Murdoch Get Control of the Family Empire?
The saga of the Murdoch empire drew to an official close on September 8, 2025, when Rupert and Lachlan struck a deal with Prudence, Elisabeth, and James to buy out their shares in both Fox Corp. and News Corp. With the settlement, Lachlan is set to control both companies after his father’s death.
While full details of the agreement weren’t made public, NPR reported Prudence, Elisabeth, and James each received $1.1 billion. The previous Murdoch family trust was dissolved, with Lachlan assuming full control of a new one, in place until 2050. Rupert’s youngest children, Grace and Chloe, will be equal beneficiaries but have no say in control of the companies.
“It gives us a clarity about our strategy going forward. It shows that our strategy will be consistent. It's clear and it's very sustainable,” Lachlan told investors on September 10, 2025.
In the meantime, Lachlan is working to maintain Fox Corp.’s dominant position in TV political commentary. Paramount Skydance recently agreed to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN, for $111 billion—sparking discourse the news channel could ultimately turn more conservative as a direct competitor to Fox News.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has said “editorial independence will absolutely be maintained” at CNN, but Lachlan Murdoch insists Fox Corp. is ready for whatever the future holds. “We have been winning, and we win amongst strong competition,” he said, according to Deadline. “Under the Ellisons, CNN obviously will be a strong competitor, as we’d expect. But we like competition, and we’ve proven over many years now that we can—running news is hard.”
Watch Dynasty: The Murdochs on Netflix
Executive producers Liz Garbus and Sara Enright recently detailed how the docuseries came together in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The pair previously worked with Netflix on 2022’s Harry & Meghan, about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and turned to the Murdoch family because their human strengths and flaws offered “such a rich area for exploration.” The project was originally focused on how Rupert established his media empire, but changed to cast a wider net on his kids as the succession battle played out in real time.
“And then when we saw the present day machinations that were going on, as they unfolded while we were in production, they kind of changed the nature of our focus to really make it more balanced and more about this family dynamic and less about Rupert, because it was so present day,” Enright explained.
Dynasty: The Murdochs is now streaming on Netflix.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
