‘Lachlan gets fired the day Rupert dies’: Murdoch biography stokes succession rumors

It's long been thought that the succession plan for Lachlan Murdoch to take control of Fox Corporation and News Corp was set in stone for when his 91-year-old father, Rupert Murdoch dies.

But a new book is stoking speculation that Murdoch's oldest son might be ousted in a Succession-style feud with his family, in a move with potentially huge ramifications for Fox News, the TV network that dominates US rightwing politics, according to a new biography of the Anglo-Australian media heir.

The author, Paddy Manning, writes: "A Wall Street analyst who has covered the Murdoch business for decades and is completely au fait with the breakdown in the relationship between the brothers [Lachlan and James Murdoch], volunteers off the record that it would be 'fair to assume Lachlan gets fired the day Rupert dies'."

The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch will be published in the US on 15 November and is out in Australia now.

Manning is an Australian journalist who has written for outlets including the Guardian. His previous books include biographies of Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister, and Nathan Tinkler, a mining entrepreneur.

The title of Manning's biography of Lachlan Murdoch echoes that of the TV hit Succession, the HBO story of an ageing media tycoon, played by Brian Cox, and his family's struggles to succeed him.

Lachlan Murdoch, 51 and Rupert Murdoch's oldest son, has led the family media businesses with his father since 2014.