Rupert Murdoch wants son to run his empire after his death: How many kids does he have and are they married?

Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch is seeking to amend his trust but three of his children are objecting the move. The media tycoon, 93, wants eldest son Lachlan to run his empire after his death.

According to The Wall Street Journal the media mogul is arguing that “shifting voting control of the trust to Lachlan should be allowed because it is in the best interest of all the beneficiaries, including his other children”.

American businessman Rupert Murdoch recently married his fifth wife Elena Zhukova, 67 The couple announced their engagement in March after dating for several months.

In September 2023 Rupert Murdoch stepped down as Fox Corporation Chair and Fox News Chair. The businessman inherited a chain of newspapers after the death of his father when he was just 22. He has built an empire in the media industry owing national and international publishing outlets around the world. Rupert Murdoch has previously been married four times and has six children.

The HBO drama series Succession was reportedly based on Rupert Murdoch and his children. The series follows the fictional Roy family, owners of a global media and entertainment company.

The story looks at their fight for control over their father’s company. The series stars Brian Cox as the head of the family, Sarah Snook, Alan Ruck, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin.

Who are Rupert Murdoch’s children?

Prudence MacLeod

Prudence Murdoch is the eldest child and was born in Australia in 1958. She is the only child of Rupert first wife flight attendant Patricia Booker who he was married to from 1956-1967.

When her parents divorced Prue requested to live with her father and his new wife Anna Torv. According to Vanity Fair, she moved to London with them and then New York where she attended High School. 

Prudence worked with her father at the News Of The World but didn’t always get along well with him. She revealed in an interview that after a press conference in 1997 where he referred to his three children and forgot to mention her, they had a huge row. 

Prudence married British investor Crispin Odey in 1986, but the couple divorced a year later. She went on to marry Alasdair MacLeod in 1989 and the couple live in Australia with their three children James MacLeod, Clementine MacLeod and Adam MacLeod. 

Elisabeth Murdoch

Elisabeth Murdoch was born in Australia on August 22 1968. She is the first daughter of Rupert Murdoch's second wife journalist Anna Murdoch Mann who he was married to from 1967- 1999. 

After attending Vassar College, Elisabeth held many jobs within her fathers companies but she branched out into her ventures. She owned a couple of NBC-affiliate stations as well as an independent television company called Shine.

Elisabeth has been married three times and has four children. She has two children with first ex-husband Elkin Pianim, Cornelia Pianim, Anna Pianim and two daughters Charlotte Emma Freud and Samson Murdoch Freud with second ex-husband Mathew Freud. Elisabeth is now married to Keith Tyson. 

Lachlan Murdoch

Lachlan Murdoch is Rupert’s first son and second child with Anna. He was born in London on September 8 1971. Lachlan grew up in New York and attended Princeton University where he studied  philosophy. 

Lachlan worked for his father managing newspapers in Australia and the US. In 1997, he was named as the deputy chief operating officer at News Corp. As his father steps down,  Lachlan will continue as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation and will become the chair of News Corp.

Lachlan is married to model Sarah O'Hare and the couple share three children, two sons Kalan, Aidan and daughter Aerin.

James Murdoch

James Murdoch is Rupert’s second son and third child with Anna. He was born in London on December 13 1972. He attended Harvard University, but dropped out to start his own hip-hop record label Rawkus Records. Company Flow, Mos Def and Eminem were just a few of the artists that worked with the record label before the company was acquired by News Corp in 1998. 

James worked for his father for many years before being named deputy COO of News Corp in 2011 and four years later CEO of 21st Century Fox. In 2020 James resigned from News Corp. In a statement at the time he wrote: that this was "due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions"

James married Kathryn in 2000 and the couple have three children, daughters Anneka and Emmerson and son Walter.

Grace Murdoch

Grace Murdoch is the first child and eldest daughter of Rupert Murdoch with his third wife entrepreneur and investor Wendi Deng whom he was married to from 1999-2013. Grace was born on November 19 2001. She grew up in New York and attended Brearley School. According to her Instagram she is currently studying at Yale University. 

Chloe Murdoch

Chloe Murdoch is the youngest of Rupert Murdoch's children and was born July 17, 2003. She is the second child of Wendi Deng and lives a relatively private life in New York. 

Natalie Dixon is NationalWorld’s Lifestyle reporter. If you liked this article and want to read more about soaps, celebrities and lifestyle you can follow Natalie on X here. 

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