Murdoch’s next move

Rupert Murdoch has lost his bid to hand control over his media company to his elder son, Lachlan Murdoch, after he dies. A Nevada commissioner ruled against his attempt to modify the terms of a family trust that would have stripped three of his other children of their voting rights over his empire.

The media mogul, who plans to appeal the ruling, is used to getting his way, The Times’s Edmund Lee writes for DealBook. Now what?

A recap: Under the current arrangement, when Murdoch dies, four of his children — Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence — will have an equal say in what happens next because they will inherit his voting shares.

But Elisabeth and James have different political leanings from Lachlan and their father, and James has indirectly criticized how Fox News operates. The three siblings contested the attempts to change the trust.

This was perhaps the last maneuver of Murdoch’s seven-decade career. The 93-year-old wanted to give Lachlan control over his news outlets — which include Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and major newspapers and television outlets in Australia and Britain — to maintain their right-leaning slant.

Fox News stars have been instrumental in helping President-elect Donald Trump through his three presidential campaigns.