Rupert Murdoch’s three adult children will retain control of their father’s media empire after his death. This was decided by a court in Nevada after Murdoch launched a campaign to wrest power from them and hand it to his eldest son.

The New York Times reported Murdoch’s loss, citing a sealed court order filed Saturday. The family dispute took place outside the public eye, although the media tried to gain access to the trial.

Murdoch sued three of his adult children, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, in an attempt to completely strip them of voting rights over the trust Murdoch created. Murdoch wanted to give Lachlan, his eldest and like-minded son, complete control of the media companies.

After reviewing the case, Nevada Commissioner Edmund Gorman concluded that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch acted in “bad faith” in their attempts to change the terms of an irrevocable trust that divides control of the company between Murdoch’s four eldest children “Intentionally” had acted.

The 96-page statement criticizes the media mogul, according to the Times, accusing him of orchestrating a “carefully crafted charade” to “permanently consolidate Lachlan Murdoch’s leadership positions” within the empire, “regardless of the impact such control would have.” the companies or companies would have “the beneficiaries” of the family foundation.

Murdoch is said to have dubbed the attempt to change the trust “Project Harmony”, believing it would prevent a power struggle within the family after his death. But his children were reportedly caught off guard by the move.

The mogul’s lawyers are expected to appeal the decision, but if it stands it will likely have a major impact on the future of the right-wing media empire, which includes Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Times and the Sun in Britain Australian.

The 93-year-old Murdoch is more politically aligned with Lachlan, his heir to the throne. James, Elisabeth and Prudence are considered less conservative and James in particular has publicly criticized climate denial in the media and accused the US media of “spreading lies” that unleashed “insidious and uncontrollable forces” after the January 6 uprising.