Lachlan Murdoch, victorious heir to the family’s global media empire, celebrated the end of a tumultuous year at his Sydney Harbour mansion Thursday evening with a guest list that few social events in Australia could match.

The rich, powerful and famous trekked up the driveway of his humble home – “Le Manoir”, the former French consulate in Bellevue Hill – to one of the most closely watched gatherings on the social calendar.

Attendees included Sydney’s sports czar Peter V’landys, AFL boss Andrew Dillon and his NRL counterpart Andrew Abdo, along with members of the News Corp-owned NRL premiers Brisbane Broncos: coach Michael Maguire and chief executive Dave Donaghy.

Former AFL boss and high-flying Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan led the stream of corporate talent, which included Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn and SGH boss Ryan Stokes – another corporate titan and billionaire-heir like Lachlan.

Ryan’s billionaire father, Kerry Stokes, was afforded the ultimate status of being driven down Le Manoir’s driveway to avoid the media’s prying eyes. The only other guest afforded this accolade was NSW Premier Chris Minns.

The Liberal Party guest list was typically strong, with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley leading the charge, aspirational rival Angus Taylor was also there, as well as senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

There were plenty of News troops on the premises, of course. This included local boss Michael Miller, and talent like Peta Credlin, Paul Murray and Andrew Bolt.

However, the most telling detail may have been who was not there.

No one from Anthony Albanese’s victorious Labor government attended this year.

Albanese may be overseas, but acting PM Richard Marles – never one to hide his ambition – was also a no-show.

This was not the case at last year’s party with Rupert Murdoch himself in attendance having just flown in for his first visit to Australia in years.

Albanese, no doubt, had his “five minutes with god”, as the private meetings with Rupert were described by one attendee. With a federal election pending, the prime minister would have been keen to hedge his bets with the still-powerful Murdoch media empire.

But Labor’s stunning victory in May, probably offered the clearest indication of the Murdoch empire’s waning power over its spiritual homeland. Something that may equally apply to all media.

The question for Lachlan is – ego aside – whether it is an issue for him, given how his father wielded political power to further his business interests across Australia, the UK, and later the US for more than half a century.

News Corp’s record share price this year has nothing to do with its financially struggling media business in Australia. Its success is anchored by the US Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, its book publishing and Lachlan’s wildly successful bet on property group REA.

As with Murdoch’s Fox Corp – which has soared under the Trump presidency – the US is where it really needs to wield political power.

On a more personal note, one of the most telling details concerned Lachlan’s ongoing relationship with former loyal lieutenant Siobhan McKenna following her abrupt departure barely a month ago from both News and Lachlan’s private media interests like Nova.

She was the first to show up to his party on Thursday and stayed until late.

McKenna, whose relationship with Lachlan pre-dates her News Corp executive roles, was the architect of the series of legal battles and negotiations that ultimately delivered Lachlan control of the Murdoch media empire just months ago. But it came at quite a cost – and not just in terms of the brutal battle with his elder siblings that appears to have ruptured family relations in a manner that Lachlan and Rupert may never mend.

Lachlan’s low-ball offer to buy out his siblings in 2019 was rejected. McKenna’s bold plan in 2023 to change the terms of the “irrevocable trust” and hand Lachlan control without paying a cent – by arguing Lachlan’s control was in the best interests of all trust beneficiaries – also failed dismally.

It left them with the financially painful option of buying out James, Elisabeth and Prudence at market prices.

The $5 billion financial cost of the settlement forced him to loosen the family trust’s control of both News Corp and Fox by selling voting shares and taking out loans secured against a significant number of the shares the family still owns.

McKenna’s abrupt departure so soon after Lachlan finally reached an agreement with his siblings, and his tepid response to her severing all business relationships with him, was seen in some quarters as a sign of his displeasure at how this succession drama had played out.

As News Corp global boss Robert Thomson said in a note to staff announcing her departure: “Her decision, as it is her decision, is essentially epochal as Siobhan has been a transformational force during her years with News Corp.”

But her departure could equally be interpreted as McKenna outgrowing her role with Lachlan after delivering him control of the family empire – especially following the sale of News Corp-controlled Foxtel this year, which she was closely involved with.

Whatever the real story, Lachlan had a lot more to contemplate – as McKenna departed Thursday evening – than his magnificent view.

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