Just days after news broke that the Murdoch family had settled issues centered around a decades-old family trust that would have thrown the futures of News Corporation and Fox Corporation into a tizzy of uncertainty, current Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch took the stage at a Goldman Sachs conference on Wednesday to extol the virtues of the freshly reformatted trust that solidified his position as owner and chief executive of the company for years to come.
“It’s great news for investors. It gives us a clarity about our strategy going forward. It shows that our strategy will be consistent, it’s clear, and it’s very sustainable,” he said, per Washington Post media reporter Jeremy Barr. “…We are very pleased to be able to move forward and remain focused on the path that we’re on.”
Lachlan Murdoch is on stage at the Goldman Sachs Cornucopia conference.
Murdoch on the big settlement this week:
“It’s great news for investors. It gives us a clarity about our strategy going forward. It shows that our strategy will be consistent, it’s clear, and it’s very…
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) September 10, 2025
Murdoch is right. There is a level of stability regarding ownership of Fox Corp. today that didn’t exist this time last week. Before the settlement, some analysts speculated that Fox could be primed to sell off its remaining significant assets, with the media empire’s patriarch, Rupert Murdoch, unwilling to let his four children fight over the company upon his death.
Now, analysts are suggesting quite the opposite. Fox finds itself primed for acquisition to meet the needs of a digital future. The media analysts at LightShed Partners write, “Now that Lachlan Murdoch has cemented control in a post-Rupert world, we would not be surprised to see an increased level of aggressiveness around M&A.”
We’ve already seen some level of that forward-looking Fox strategy in action. The company recently acquired the conservative podcast network Red Seat Ventures, struck a deal with Barstool Sports for a morning show on FS1, and licensed the popular Ruthless Podcast at Fox News. The company also operates a successful FAST platform, Tubi, which captures a substantial share of time spent watching on television screens, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge. And Fox also recently launched a direct-to-consumer streamer, Fox One.
Maintaining a robust set of live sports rights will be another key to Fox’s long-term stability. The company currently holds NFL rights through 2034 (although the league can opt out in 2029), World Series rights through 2028, Big Ten football rights through 2030, major NASCAR races through 2031, next year’s World Cup, and more. These rights are critical to supporting the still-lucrative linear television business Fox relies on while transitioning to a digital-focused strategy.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.