Inside the Murdoch family’s succession game

A note from VF’s editor in chief on the May issue. [View in your browser]( | [Un](newsletter=vfletters)[subscribe from this email](newsletter=vfletters)   [Letters from Vanity Fair Logo]( To support Vanity Fair, [please consider subscribing]( with this limited-time offer of $8 for one year.   [Vanity Fair EIC Radhika Jones] Radhika Jones EDITOR IN CHIEF The sword of Dominion may no longer be hanging over Rupert Murdoch’s empire, thanks to an eleventh-hour, $787.5 million settlement. But like his fictional counterpart Logan Roy, the 92-year-old titan still has to figure out which, if any, of his children deserve to assume control of his media empire when he’s gone. In our annual Dynasty Issue, Gabriel Sherman, who has reported on Fox and the Murdochs for more than a decade, [digs deep]( into the ties that bind and the lines that divide King Rupert, his six children, and his four ex-wives to game out the future of their media empire. The drama may get deliciously petty, but the arc is Shakespearean and the stakes are sky-high, for us arguably as much as for them. On [Inside the Hive](, our news and media podcast, special contributor Brian Stelter takes a turn in the anchor chair, going inside the News Corp drama as the Dominion dust settles (you can find his columns on VF.com). If you prefer your tyrannical patriarchs and squabbling siblings fictional, tune in to the new season of [Still Watching](, our TV podcast, in which VF chief critic Richard Lawson and staff writer Chris Murphy dissect each episode of the new season of Succession, with special guests from the cast and crew. Meanwhile, this spring, Vanity Fair Studios and Scout Productions present [The Secrets of Hillsong](, a four-part documentary series premiering on FX May 19 based on [the magazine’s original reporting]( on the rise and fall of Pastor Carl Lentz of the famed Hillsong Church, its history of harboring abuse, and the dark family saga behind the church’s founding. Here at Vanity Fair, we pride ourselves in commissioning deeply reported profiles and ambitious investigations into our culture’s most fascinating, consequential, or just plain villainous figures. [A subscription is the best way to support this work and others like it](—plus, you’ll enjoy access to everything we’ve published, past and present. We hope you consider joining us. Best, Radhika Jones Editor, Vanity Fair   [Your access to the buzziest stories in politics, culture, tech, and media starts with a subscription: only $8 for a full year with this limited-time offer]([.]( [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   TYRANNICAL PATRIARCHS, SQUABBLING SIBLINGS, AND MORE [Black and white headshot of Rupert Murdoch]( [Rupert Murdoch’s Succession Drama]( [By GABRIEL SHERMAN]( [It’s been a chaotic 12 months for the 92-year-old conservative media baron. As Fox and family insiders tell it, this could just be the beginning.](   [Crowd passing in front of Fox News building]( [Fox News, Unapologetic and Unwavering, Steams Ahead]( [By BRIAN STELTER]( [Fox kept touting its ratings as the trial loomed, and now that it’s over, the cable giant is sure to remain focused on the bottom line.](   [Collage of Carl Lentz images]( [Carl Lentz and the Trouble at Hillsong]( [By ALEX FRENCH AND DAN ADLER]( [When a cheating scandal blew up the Hillsong pastor’s life, some congregants were left to question their relationship with a church that cultivated its own kind of fame.](   [Succession’s Shiv, Kendall, and Roman Roy around a table]( [Who Will Take the Roy Family Throne?]( [By RICHARD LAWSON AND CHRIS MURPHY]( [Richard Lawson and Chris Murphy dissect each episode of Succession on VF’s Still Watching podcast.](   [Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch]( [Inside the Hive: Fox on Trial]( [By BRIAN STELTER]( [A capsule season of our beloved podcast, featuring Brian Stelter and guests on all things Murdoch, as the family and its company brace for more storms after Dominion.](     [VANITY FAIR logo image]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( This e-mail was sent to you by Vanity Fair. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( | [Unsubscribe from this email](newsletter=vfletters) Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.