Rupert Murdoch Gets His Succession Finale

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

He was, after all, the eldest boy. The family drama that inspired HBO’s Succession ended this week with a settlement that ensures Rupert Murdoch’s conservative media conglomerate will pass to his oldest and most conservative son, Lachlan. The Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins wrote about the Murdoch succession saga for The Atlantic’s April cover story, “Growing Up Murdoch.” He joins Radio Atlantic to share insights from his months of reporting on the family and what he thinks now that the real-life Succession has ended. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, so what if you could listen to all your books, docs, PDFs and articles?
0:04.6	Well, you can.
0:06.0	With the 11 Reader app, you can turn anything into natural sounding voice, like this one.
0:11.6	So download 11 Reader for free on your favorite app store today.
0:19.2	It is Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan pitched against his other three children, Prudence, Elizabeth and James.
0:27.1	Rupert Murdoch took three of his children to court to ensure his media empire remains in the hands of eldest son Lachlan and a conservative force.
0:36.0	Given the outsized influence that Rupert Murdoch's Empire has and its role in being a sort of clarion of right-wing populism, this is about all of us.
0:46.3	This isn't only one family's drama.
0:49.3	The HBO show's succession ended over two years ago, but the real-world family saga that inspired it continued on.
0:58.5	Rupert Murdoch, patriarch, and media mogul of all media moguls, has always said that he wanted
1:04.8	his conservative empire to stay in the family after he died. As he entered his 90s, the question of which child would lead it
1:13.4	became more urgent. But as the HBO show dramatized, succession is no simple thing. The empire is
1:22.0	held by family trust, and Rupert didn't get to dictate its fate. The siblings fought,
1:29.3	battled each other in court,
1:33.1	family secrets spilled out in legal documents.
1:35.7	Staff writer McKay Coppins wrote the Atlantic's April cover story
1:37.7	about the Murdox,
1:38.6	and he spoke extensively with one brother, James.
1:42.2	By that point,
1:43.2	the succession battle was between James and his older
1:46.1	brother, Lachlan. Lachlan is more conservative, more self-consciously modeling himself on their
1:52.5	father. James, meanwhile, is more politically moderate, but he also spent two decades in the family
	...

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