Rupert Murdoch and progeny lock into Reno courtroom in final succession battle over $15 billion media empire

Rupert Murdoch’s court battle over the future of his media empire kicked off last night with the Press and public barred from the court.

Lawyers for the 93-year-old were arguing behind closed doors in Reno, Nevada, that he should hand control of his businesses to his eldest son Lachlan, 53.

In scenes that could have come out of the television series Succession, which is loosely based on the Murdoch clan, the tycoon and his four eldest children arrived at the courthouse in convoys of blacked-out SUVs.

In a jarring contrast to the family’s extraordinary wealth, a casino two blocks away in Reno’s seedy downtown was selling $6 dai quiris for breakfast.

Across the road from the Beaux Arts courthouse, two homeless people sat on benches eating out of a plastic bag.

A staggering 79 lawyers are listed as working on the case.

Officially called an “evidentiary hearing”, it amounts to a five-day bench trial with witnesses and reams of evidence.

At stake is $US15 billion in assets owned by the Murdoch estate, which controls an empire including US TV network Fox News and News Corp, parent company of The Times, The Sun, New York Post and Wall Street Journal.

Under the terms of the divorce from his second wife Anna in 1999, their four children have equal influence with one vote in the Murdoch trust each — and Mr Murdoch controls four votes himself.

He is trying to hand power to Lachlan, 53, his chosen successor, who — with his vote and his fathers’ four — will be able to outvote siblings Prudence, 65, Elisabeth, 55, and James, 51.

Mr Murdoch is said to be worried that Prudence, Elisabeth and James would push Fox in a more liberal direction.

His lawyers must convince probate commissioner Edmund Gorman that his actions will benefit the trust.

The hearing was carefully managed by the Second Judicial District in Washoe County, with photographers ordered to stand on the courthouse steps watched by five armed court security officers as well as corporate security.

First to arrive were Prudence, James and Elisabeth with their respective spouses, Alasdair MacLeod, Kathryn Hufschmid and Keith Tyson.

Their convoy of five SUVs was from a company marked ‘Presidential’ – two of the vehicles were taken up with lawyers.

Mr Murdoch and Lachlan then arrived in a convoy of three SUVs. Mr Murdoch was holding hands with his fifth wife, Russian biologist Elena Zhukova, and shook his head when asked for comment.

Lachlan walked hand in hand with his wife Sarah.

Also arriving at court was former attorney general Bill Barr, said to be leading the efforts to rewrite the trust for Mr Murdoch.

The case is happening in Reno due to its probate laws which guarantee privacy.

Several US media outlets did try to gain access to the hearing but their application was rejected. The only concession was that the names of lawyers and non-parties were made public.