Betrayals, leaks, manipulations, machinations, and humiliations in a dynasty; brazen double crosses and alliances that sound like the TV series, “Succession”. Instead, it is the story of the Murdoch family (which, moreover, the series was inspired by). But it is all true, and it emerges in the wake of a trial, the court clash over control of the media giant News Corp.
American journalist McKay Coppins published an extensive interview this weekend in The Atlantic with James Murdoch, the second son of Rupert Murdoch, who is often painted as a bitter rival of his older brother Lachlan. Coppins and James Murdoch began talking in early 2024. At the time, the journalist was unaware that “Project Harmony,” the not-so-harmonious plan devised by the over-90-year-old patriarch to manage the empire’s future — and somehow control it even from the grave — had been launched in the Murdoch household.
The plan called for Rupert to inform James and his sisters Prudence and Elizabeth that he would name Lachlan as heir. Upon Rupert’s death, instead of the previously planned equally divided family trust, the power would go exclusively to the eldest son. The story ended up in court in Nevada-where Rupert Murdoch arrived assisted by wife number five, Elena Zhukova, a biologist 25 years his junior. In December 2024, Rupert lost his attempt to hand over the reins to Lachlan.
Coppins’ interview details all the family struggles, including James’ discomfort with the company’s support for Brexit and Donald Trump.
For years, as male heirs took over control of various parts of the organization, there was talk of James’ unease with the way News Corp handled the climate crisis and how Fox News embraced right-wing conspiracy theories. It was the 2019-20 Australian wildfires that caused the public signal of the breakup. In a statement, James and his wife, Kathryn Hufschmid, shared their frustration with News Corp and Fox News’ denialist coverage. Later, in 2020, James resigned from the News Corp. board of directors.
Rupert Murdoch is “misogynistic,” James states in the interview, among other things, citing why the succession battle saw Rupert pit James and Lachlan against each other, leaving Prudence and Elisabeth on the sidelines.
Coppins’ interview traces the relationship between James and his father as it disintegrated. At the time of the court battle, “James and Rupert had barely spoken to each other in years,” reads the piece, which then quotes a handwritten note from Rupert delivered along with the legal documents: “Dear James, is there still time to talk? Love, Dad. P.S.: I would love to see my grandchildren someday.”
“James, who could not remember the last time Rupert had taken an interest in his grandchildren, did not bother to respond,” Coppins notes.
Coppins also describes a series of “pointed questions” directed at James by Rupert’s lawyer in court. “Has he ever done anything successful on his own?” the lawyer asked James, according to The Atlantic, also referring to him and the sisters as ”white, privileged, multibillion-dollar trust-fund babies.” James, Coppins writes, noticed that Rupert, sitting quietly, was sending the questions to the lawyer.
On Thanksgiving 2024, James and his sisters wrote a letter to their father saying they loved him and missed him. “End this destructive judicial path. Let us heal and become a cooperative and loving family,” they pleaded, according to The Atlantic.
Rupert Murdoch, the piece continues, responded that they would have to contact his lawyers if they wanted to talk to him.
A spokesman for Rupert and Lachlan described James’ claims in the interview as a “litany of falsehoods … from a person who no longer works for the companies but still benefits financially.”
Last week, New York Times Magazine reporters reviewed 3,000 pages related to the trial, writing that the trust that leads News Corp will expire in 2030. At that point – or Rupert’s death – the brothers will have to decide what to do.
