News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch.com, is contemplating merging again with Fox Corp., both of which are controlled by the Murdoch family, reports Reuters.
The Reuters story by Edmund Lee states, “Discussions of a possible re-merger were revealed during the last few weeks in unsealed court documents and an attorney’s testimony related to a family succession saga that began in 2023. The judicial official overseeing the matter released the findings at the end of July.
“They showed that in 2022, Rupert Murdoch, then chairman of Fox Corp and News Corp, became interested in recombining the two companies after he split them less than 10 years earlier.
“Murdoch drafted a letter to both boards stating the family trust would not ‘vote in favor of any alternative sale, merger or similar transaction involving either company.’ After a representative for Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth questioned the re-merger, Rupert texted her and threatened to ‘ram it through … if necessary.’
“The merger failed after investors balked, but court proceedings in June show Murdoch could make a renewed attempt. In a hearing to determine whether the court testimony should be made public, an attorney for Lachlan Murdoch argued any discussions related to the merger should be sealed or redacted because it’s ‘something that still could happen in the future.'”
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