Court battle over Murdoch's media empire and £14.9bn trust commences

New Delhi: The familial dispute over Rupert Murdoch's media empire has commenced a legal confrontation in the United States for the fate of his media empire and a £14.9 billion family trust. 

The confrontation involves the 93-year-old media titan squaring off against three of his eldest children, contending his planned evolution of control of News Corp and Fox News upon his death to his son Lachlan. 

The familial legal battle has dire stakes because the direction of News Corp and the Fox News Channel implicate significant influence in the political and public domain the world over. 

Murdoch's empire consists of popular newspapers including, The Times, The Sun, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as the Fox News network.

The Nevada court proceedings are expected to involve Murdoch family members testifying and as is often the case in family disputes, the parties might settle. However, if parties decide to appeal a verdict, the dispute might linger on, considerably extending the proceedings. 

The conflict has been compared to the popular television series Succession, concerning a trust agreement dated 1999 stipulating how the voting shares - and power - would be distributed among the Murdoch family. 

Rupert's younger children Grace and Chloe are specifically excluded from being entitled to any voting rights distributed by this arrangement.