The Murdoch empire is facing a succession issue. Rupert Murdoch, the owner-operator of his family’s media empire, is attempting to change the terms of his family’s trust so that his eldest son and chosen successor remains in charge upon his death.
You must be thinking, What does this have to do with my family business? Juicy drama aside, all family businesses can learn a thing or two from the Murdoch situation.
One mistake Rupert Murdoch made was assuming that the governance that worked for his generation will work for his children’s generation. This is called the Sequel Fallacy. And it can lead to broken families, lost reputations, and business failures. Unfortunately, the Sequel Fallacy is more common than we’d like. But it can be avoided—so long as the family acknowledges that what worked best for the previous generation might not work well with the next.
The Sequel Fallacy is only one of five mistakes we see playing out with the Murdoch situation. Learn about the four other mistakes and how to avoid them in “Five Murdoch Family Mistakes You Can Learn From.”
Read about what family businesses can learn from the Murdoch situation here.
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