Lachlan Murdoch hosts Albanese, Dutton, billionaires amid real-life succession drama

Media heir Lachlan Murdoch hosted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and several Australian billionaires on Thursday evening, less than 24 hours after it emerged that his father, Rupert Murdoch, had moved to cement his media empire’s conservative edge beyond the grave.

Albanese was expected to make a speech to one of the richest rooms Australia has ever assembled, during The Australian newspaper’s 60th birthday celebration at the Australian Museum in Sydney’s Darlinghurst.

Other invitees included Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, newly appointed Governor-General Sam Mostyn and NSW Premier Chris Minns.

Also arriving at the star-studded event were former prime minister John Howard, Seven Group scion Ryan Stokes, mining magnate Andrew Forrest, billionaire rag trader Solomon Lew, Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, restaurateur Justin Hemmes, Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’Landys, Foxtel boss Patrick Delany and Sydney public figure David Gonski.

Justice Michael Lee, renowned for presiding over the recent defamation case between Bruce Lehrmann and Network Ten was also in attendance.

The evening marked a rare public appearance for Lachlan Murdoch, the chair of News Corp and Fox Corp, who hosted the event on behalf of his 93-year-old father, who founded the masthead in 1964 but did not make the trip to Australia for the event.

Rupert Murdoch founded The Australian newspaper in 1964.Credit: AP

The elder Murdoch did appear in a 60th-anniversary special documentary, aired on Sky News Australia last week, celebrating the milestone. However, the hour-long documentary made no mention of the brewing family crisis.

Murdoch handed over the reins of his media empire to eldest son Lachlan late last year, in turn becoming chairman emeritus.

Overnight, details of a legal stoush fracturing the Murdoch family emerged in The New York Times, revealing the recently married Murdoch snr’s attempts to amend the terms of his family trust and hand control to Lachlan because he felt his eldest son would keep the media businesses more conservative after his death and preserve their profitability.

The move, due to play out in a court in Reno, Nevada, in September, has split the siblings, with the more politically moderate Prudence, Elisabeth and James aligning to prevent total control falling into the hands of Lachlan.

The explosive report outlined sealed documents revealing Murdoch snr’s plans to expand his eldest son’s voting power in the Murdoch Family Trust, which would mean he could not be challenged by his siblings.

The trust controls the Murdoch family’s shares in the News Corp and Fox Corp empires, which include Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Times in the UK and local mastheads including The Australian, the Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph.

The family trust is “irrevocable”. However, it is said to contain a provision that allows for changes to be made in good faith if they have the sole purpose of benefiting all the beneficiaries. It currently has eight votes, four of those being controlled by Murdoch himself, with the other four held by his four eldest children.

“He is arguing in court that only by empowering Lachlan to run the company without interference from his more politically moderate siblings can he preserve its conservative editorial bent, and thus protect its commercial value for all his heirs,” the report said.

The Australian-born media mogul has been married five times and has six children. He had Prudence Murdoch with his first wife, Patricia Booker, while Elisabeth, Lachlan and James came from his second marriage to Anna Torv. Murdoch also has two children with his third wife, Wendi Deng.

Murdoch’s fourth marriage to model Jerry Hall ended in 2022 after six years. In June, he tied the knot for the fifth time, with Moscow-born Elena Zhukova in a vineyard at his estate in Bel-Air, California.

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.