Rupert Murdoch has been a prominent media tycoon for over 70 years and boasts a staggering net worth of $22.5 billion.
After taking over his father's Adelaide-based newspaper, The News, in the 1950s, the 95-year-old began rapidly expanding his media empire. By the end of the 60s, the Australian-American businessman had acquired the UK's News of the World and The Sun, followed by the purchases of US-based outlets The New York Post and The Times in the 70s and 80s. He then went on to found Sky Television in the UK and launch Fox News in the US in the 1990s before taking over The Wall Street Journal in 2007.
Of course, these are just the cherries on the cake — Murdoch's business portfolio expands through media and right-wing politics like the Mind Flayer.
However, after stepping down from his main company chairmanships in 2023 — Fox Corp. and News Corp. essentially control all of Murdoch's assets — his son, Lachlan Murdoch, was named as his successor. The decision was made after a highly profiled, high-stakes legal case called the Succession of Rupert Murdoch.
The case, often dubbed a real-life Succession, involved a dramatic battle over the future of the companies and saw Murdoch fight to ensure that his eldest son, Lachlan, would have full control. The move was designed to prevent his other three children, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James, from having any say in the businesses — especially challenging their conservative editorial direction.
Now, Netflix has dropped one of the most binge-worthy documentaries of the year: Dynasty: The Murdochs. The four-episode special explores the Murdoch family like never before, zooming in on each child and revealing the familial impact of the cutthroat succession battle.
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"Rupert got everything he wanted, but it ripped his family apart," says the trailer. So, who are the Murdoch children, and what are they doing now?
Who is Lachlan Murdoch?
In the documentary trailer, it's suggested that Lachlan was "groomed" from a young age to take over the family business. Born in London in 1971, he was raised in the US, receiving an elite education that included private schools in Manhattan, Massachusetts and Colorado. He later graduated from Princeton University, a private Ivy League research university in New Jersey.
By 1994, he was working for his father at News Corp., and eventually secured the role of deputy chief operating officer. However, Lachlan left the US in 2005 to move to his father's native Australia and run his own investment firm, after reportedly feeling undermined by top executives. At the time, this was seen as a "voluntary exile." Despite these controversies, Lachlan returned to his father's empire in 2014, eventually becoming the sole chair of News Corp and Fox Corporation.
Paul Verna, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, previously told the Los Angeles Times that Lachlan was "probably the most aligned with his father in terms of politics and in terms of his vision of the business." Therefore, he was the likeliest candidate to succeed the business mogul.
Who is James Murdoch?
James Murdoch is one year younger than Lachlan. He's often described as being more politically liberal than his father and brother — he has previously supported US democratic political candidates, and criticised Fox News' editorial direction.
Case in point: Before joining Murdoch's media empire, he launched his own hip hop label, Rawkus Records, in 1995. In the documentary, viewers learn that long before the "succession" drama unfolded, James was happy to have no part in the business and be the "black sheep" of the family. Netflix described him as having "this rebellious streak that was always manifesting in different ways."
However, when Murdoch purchased Rawkus Records (seemingly in an effort to lure James back into the family business), he ended up becoming the executive chairman of News International and CEO of 20th Century Fox.
He left the board of News Corp. in 2020, citing "disagreements over certain editorial content." Now, he runs his own private investment company, Lupa Systems.
Who is Elisabeth Murdoch?
Elisabeth is the older sister of Lachlan and James, who all share the same mother, Anna dePeyster, from their father's second marriage. Often cited as a potential inspiration for Succession's Shiv Roy, Elisabeth is known for operating independently of her father's company to build her own career. (She did work at her father's companies, Sky and Fox, before launching her own ventures.)
The 57-year-old is still heavily active in the media space, having founded successful production companies, Shine Group (2001), and SISTER (2019), which produced hits like MasterChef, Chernobyl and This Is Going to Hurt.
In the documentary trailer, Elisabeth is described as having a "creative eye" and being "ambitious in her own way." An old interview clip is also included, where Elisabeth states that her dad taught her to "control [her] own destiny."
Who is Prudence Murdoch?
Prudence is the eldest Murdoch child, born in 1958 to his first wife, Patricia Booker. Described as the "quiet Murdoch dragged into the real-life drama," she was raised away from the spotlight. Vanity Fair once called her the "only one of [Murdoch's] children not directly competing for his business affections," and she often maintained a lower profile compared to her siblings.
Prudence (or 'Prue') still worked her father's business, though. Early in her career, she worked at News of the World and held board positions within News Corporation, including Times Newspapers Ltd.
Despite this, Prudence and her father have a history of not seeing eye to eye. In 1997, Rupert excluded Prudence during a press conference, where he referenced his "three children." Later, Vanity Fair revealed how she had reacted to being labelled the "forgotten daughter." In an interview, Prudence said she had the "biggest row I've ever had with my father. I rang up, I screamed at him, I hung up. He was very upset. He then sent the biggest bunch of flowers — it was bigger than a sofa — and two clementine trees."
Fun fact, Prudence actually has a daughter named Clementine.
Does Rupert Murdoch have any other children?
Yes, Murdoch and his third wife, Wendi Deng, welcomed two daughters: Grace, 24, and Chloe, 22.
Grace was raised in NYC and attended Yale University. She appears to have a close relationship with her father — on his 90th birthday, Grace shared on her Instagram that she is "so lucky" to be his daughter. As for Chloe, she also grew up in New York City and attended Stanford University.
Dynasty: The Murdochs is streaming on Netflix now.
Sophie Williams is a Freelance Journalist and Copywriter, covering everything from Fashion to Entertainment to music, Lifestyle and Features. She has interviewed a range of musical artists and authors including Alyssa Edwards, Courtney Barnett, Confidence Man, The Vaccines, Loyle Carner, Gabrielle, and John Niven, and has written for publications like Metro, Reader's Digest, ITV's Woo! and Vice’s NBGA. She is also working on a book for HarperCollins about Taylor Swift, due to be published in 2024.
