Chuck Darwin<p>(2/3)</p><p>For example, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rupert" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Rupert</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Murdoch" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Murdoch</span></a> owns 17% of equity in the media empire 👉 and 39% of the voting power.</p><p>“The fight for control of the Murdoch empire is only magnified by the <a href="https://c.im/tags/dual" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>dual</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/class" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>class</span></a> structure,” says Charles Elson, a leading authority on US corporate governance issues. </p><p>“The idea is I am the smartest person in the world and I should run the company as its king. </p><p>Other shareholders can say we believe you. If that’s a condition of investing, so be it.”</p><p>❌But critics of unequal dual-class voting say the structure weakens executive accountability. </p><p>“That’s the problem – it basically destroys <a href="https://c.im/tags/accountability" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>accountability</span></a>,” says Elson.</p><p>Passing that power on generationally, he adds, only makes it worse. </p><p>“How do you know the talent is genetic? <br />Simply because they’re the children doesn’t mean they have the same business acumen as the father <br />and it’s not how you pick the leader of a company or a country.”</p><p>The Murdoch biographer and antagonist <a href="https://c.im/tags/Michael" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Michael</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Wolff" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Wolff</span></a> wrote recently that the late Fox News chair and CEO <a href="https://c.im/tags/Roger" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Roger</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ailes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Ailes</span></a> told him that the Murdoch sons, <br />Lachlan and James, <br />“are both wannabe little kings”. </p><p>But that was before open warfare broke out.</p><p>“I think they both really believe they were put on earth to show up their father, rather than the reality, <br />which is that they would be mid-level media executives making a quarter million a year and grateful for it, without their old man.”</p><p>Earlier this month, the hedge fund <a href="https://c.im/tags/Starboard" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Starboard</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Value" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Value</span></a> sent a letter to shareholders of News Corp, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, calling for the company to eliminate its dual-class share structure.</p><p>In the letter, the Starboard CEO, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeffrey" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jeffrey</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Smith" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Smith</span></a>, argued: <br />“This transition of power from Rupert Murdoch to his children has allowed for complicated family dynamics to potentially impact the stability and strategic direction of News Corp.”</p><p>Four Murdoch children with voting rights, Smith added, <br />“could be paralyzing to the strategic direction” <br />and, more importantly: <br />“We are not sure why their perspectives should carry greater weight than the views of other shareholders.”</p><p>News Corp said it believed its dual-class capital structure <br />“promotes stability and has facilitated the successful implementation of News Corp’s transformational strategy and long-term outperformance for all News Corp stockholders”.</p><p>The outcome of the Nevada court battle will not immediately affect the family’s control of the Murdoch empire <br />but could in the fullness of time if Murdoch dies or becomes incapacitated. </p><p>“If the stock is split up and the family doesn’t get along, the company could face real challenges and it becomes a very bumpy road for the other investors who are not part of the drama.”</p><p>But as the caravan of Black SUVs ferried warring Murdochs in and out of court last week, there was at least one certainty, Elson says. </p><p>While Rupert Murdoch still lives, the company remains firmly under his thumb.</p><p>“Rupert Murdoch calls the shots and when he’s gone he really doesn’t have that worry any more. -- He’s done.”</p>