Lachlan Murdoch, the heir apparent to billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, might be involved in the deal to keep TikTok legal in the United States, President Donald Trump suggested in an interview with Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing” program.
Lachlan Murdoch (right) with his father, Rupert Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp and chairman of Fox News.
Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Speaking to Fox News’ Peter Doocy, Trump mentioned some of the Americans involved in the deal outlined by the White House yesterday, which would see Americans control six of the company’s seven board seats and control its algorithm.
- “Larry Ellison’s one of them,” Trump said, referring to the billionaire co-founder of Oracle whose involvement was previously reported, while also noting “Michael Dell is involved”—referring to the billionaire chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies.
- Trump also suggested Lachlan Murdoch would join those investors as well as potentially his media mogul father—“Rupert is probably going to be in the group, I think they’re going to be in the group.”
- Trump did not elaborate on what role the Murdochs would play in the deal or in the company in the future, and Forbes has reached out to a representative for the Murdochs and Fox News for further comment.
Who Are The Murdochs?
Lachlan Murdoch is the oldest son of Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born media mogul whose empire includes the Fox Corporation and News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, and HarperCollins.
The Murdoch family recently reached a settlement after a years-long succession dispute over the future of the media empire after Rupert’s death, with Lachlan’s siblings reportedly receiving billions for their stakes in the trust that controls the companies.
The deal cemented Lachlan’s position at the head of the companies until at least 2050. In July Trump sued Rupert Murdoch, alongside The Wall Street Journal, after the paper published a report alleging Trump signed a message in a “birthday book” for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday, which Trump denied.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes values Rupert Murdoch and his family’s net worth at $23.9 billion, which was primarily built through his control of media businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Australia.
Key Background
In January 2025, the Supreme Court upheld a law passed with bipartisan approval requiring Chinese company ByteDance to divest from the app or face a ban in the United States. Although Trump himself tried to ban the app by executive order during his first term in office, he has repeatedly delayed enforcing the ban passed by Congress and frequently credits the app with helping win a larger percentage of the youth vote in the 2024 election. Trump said the administration was finalising a deal to keep the app online in the U.S. permanently last week, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt laid out some of the details of the deal on Saturday.
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