Murdoch succession Lachlan to control empire but deal is still a win for siblings

As a keen rock climber, Lachlan Murdoch knows a thing or two about the importance of clinging to perilous terrain. After the toughest ascent of his life - rising to the top of his father's business empire - he has finally ensured his place at its summit is secure.

- Michael Savage

The deal Rupert Murdoch's eldest son has struck with his oldest siblings, Prudence, Elisabeth and James, will mean they give up their shares in the family business, handing Lachlan the long-term control he and his father craved.

Arriving at such a deal, which will pay his siblings an estimated $1.1bn (£800m) each for their portions of the businesses, may seem like an anticlimactic finale for a poisonous family saga that has fascinated the world and inspired a hit television show.

Yet in reality, it marks a victory for Lachlan's three siblings, who will get a far higher payment than they were previously being offered.

They secured that after winning a high-profile court case, opposing an audacious attempt by Rupert and Lachlan to in effect write them out of the family trust that controls the Murdoch businesses Fox Corporation and News Corp. What Rupert and Lachlan dubiously labelled "Project Family Harmony" ended up producing one of the most spectacular episodes of the Murdoch family saga when the three other siblings took their father to court over the plan - with the full contents of the family's mutual animus spilling into the public domain when the court documents leaked.