Rupert Murdoch and Fox News have avoided a public apology over their coverage of the US 2020 election after agreeing to pay $788m (£633m) to settle a blockbuster defamation lawsuit.

Fox reached a dramatic 11th-hour settlement with Dominion Voting Systems last night to avert a trial over accusations the news network knowingly broadcast false claims that Dominion’s technology was used to rig the 2020 election of Joe Biden.

But despite the payout, Fox will not be required to issue any retractions or on-air apologies.

In a statement issued last night, the opinionated news channel said only that it acknowledged a court ruling “finding certain claims about Dominion to be false”.

While the deal was less than half the $1.6bn in damages Dominion had been seeking, it is still the largest settlement in a libel case in US history.

Coverage of the blockbuster deal was muted on Fox News. Hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who had been expected to testify in the trial, did not reference the settlement during their primetime broadcasts on Tuesday night.

Fox anchor Neil Cavuto broke into his headline afternoon news show "Your World" to report the settlement and read a statement by Fox, in which it said it was pleased to have reached an agreement to avert a trial but stopped short of an apology.

Speaking after the settlement was reached last night, Dominion chief executive John Poulos said: “Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees, and our customers. Nothing can ever make up for that.”

Stephen Shackelford, a lawyer for Dominion, added: “Money is accountability, and we got that today from Fox. But we’re not done yet, we’ve got some other people who have some accountability coming toward them.”

The voting technology company is also suing smaller right-wing networks Newsmax and One America News over their broadcasting of vote-rigging claims.

The last-gasp deal, which was reached after a jury had been selected and as the two sides were poised to begin opening statements, spares Fox from a potentially embarrassing trial that would have shed light on the heart of Mr Murdoch’s empire.

The 92-year-old was expected to take the stand, as was his son Lachlan and Fox News chairman Suzanne Scott.

However, the settlement does not mark the end of Fox’s legal woes. It is also facing a $2.7bn lawsuit filed by another voting technology company.

Smartmatic secured approval for its case from a New York judge in March, and last night vowed to push ahead with legal action.

Erik Connolly, a lawyer for Smartmatic, said: “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest.

“Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy.”