The intrigues of the Murdoch family are always fascinating, especially since Rupert Murdoch wants one of his children to succeed him at the helm of News Corporation.

That makes Lachlan Murdoch’s sale this week of half his non-voting shares in News Corp, followed by a deal for his company to buy a 50 per cent share in Daily Mail & General Trust’s radio operations in Australia, an interesting event.

This, combined with Lachlan’s recent purchase of a mansion in Sydney for $21m, suggests that he is moving further away from a return to an executive role at News Corp, which he left in 2005 after a difficult period in New York as deputy chief operating officer.

That has not stopped his father wanting him to return to News Corp as an executive - indeed fairly openly pining for him to do so. Lachlan still sits on the board of the company as a non-executive.

Lachlan’s sale of shares, which he has not explained, is a striking act of dissociation from News Corp, given that he is a board director. He received most of the non-voting shares in 2007 as part of a resolution of a family tussle over financial arrangements for Rupert’s six children.

The sale puts Lachlan in a similar position to Elisabeth Murdoch, who has developed a successful career as an independent television producer in London, running her company Shine.

It also makes it more likely that James, who is now chairman and chief executive of News Corp’s international operations, will succeed his father at the top of the company.

November 27, 2009 3:44am in Media | Comment