Bolt’s ultimatum: I’ll quit if James Murdoch wins succession battle

Sky News Australia after dark star Andrew Bolt will quit the company should Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan lose control of the family media empire to the more politically moderate James Murdoch.

The brothers have clashed over the company’s editorial slant in the past, particularly over the conservative Fox News channel in America, as well as James Murdoch’s criticism of the climate coverage in News Corp’s Australian newspapers.

Andrew Bolt and James Murdoch Credit: The Age

“James could sack me if he did take over, but he wouldn’t need to. I wouldn’t be the only one who wouldn’t work for him,” Bolt said during his Sky News show on Thursday evening, responding to a report published by The New York Times this week, detailing a legal battle for control of the Murdoch family’s assets.

“It’s a values’ thing. A freedom thing. I don’t know if he gets that.”

“I haven’t been asked to say this. I haven’t even talked to Lachlan for a couple of years. I didn’t ask for permission to say this,” Bolt added.

Bolt, 64, is a conservative social and political commentator who hosts The Bolt Report on weeknights on Sky News, as well as writing for News Corp’s tabloid papers.

Photographs published by The Australian newspaper show Lachlan Murdoch was seated next to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Thursday night’s dinner at The Australian Museum, celebrating the newspaper’s 60th anniversary.

Lachlan Murdoch hosted Australia’s most powerful people from both politics and business, including former prime ministers, billionaires Andrew Forrest, Scott Farquhar, Ryan Stokes, and other prominent figures.

Singer and environment activist Missy Higgins delivered a headline performance to guests at the event, as did Australian singer-songwriter Budjerah.

The New York Times revealed that Rupert Murdoch was engaged in a legal battle against three of his children over the future of the “irrevocable” family trust, which controls the media assets of Fox Corp and News Corp.

Murdoch senior plans to change the terms of the trust to give control to Lachlan Murdoch, 52, who he argues is more politically conservative than the other children, Elisabeth, Prudence and James, and is therefore more able to preserve the commercial value of the media company for all of his heirs.

The trust currently has eight votes: four controlled by Murdoch, and the remaining four controlled by the four children from his first two marriages. Murdoch’s youngest daughters, Chloe and Grace, from his third wife, Wendi Deng, do not have voting rights in the trust.

Lachlan Murdoch is chairman of News Corp, whose publications in Australia include several tabloid newspapers and The Australian newspaper, as well as ownership of Sky News. Overseas, News Corp assets include The Wall Street Journal, The Sun and The Times of London. He is also chair and chief executive of Fox Corp.

Meanwhile, The New York Times journalist who revealed the legal stoush between Rupert Murdoch and his children said the media mogul faces a difficult legal battle in a US court.

Murdoch “will not be able to prevail” in his attempts to amend the Family Trust, if there’s any evidence it is to benefit Lachlan, or push aside the other kids “out of vindictiveness or anything other than a generous spirit” one of the authors of the report, Jim Rutenberg told ABC Melbourne’s Raf Epstein on Friday morning.

“It’s very hard to change these trusts. So this is not an easy case for him.”

“The court is saying A: he’s going to have to show at a trial that this was done in good faith, and the other three children are arguing, of course, it was not done in good faith,” he continued.

Rupert Murdoch with his sons Lachlan and James. Credit: Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

“This is favouritism for Lachlan and the key to the trust that still exists, they all are treated equally. They would argue this is unequal treatment.

“It’s not being done in good faith. There’s a lot of bad blood, especially between James, Rupert and Lachlan, so the judge is leaving it open to see this at trial.”

• With Reuters

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