Murdoch family made big money off the Disney-Fox deal

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 10/1/2018, 12:32 p.m.
The Murdoch family won big for steering the sale of most of 21st Century Fox to Disney.
Payouts for the Murdoch family of media moguls were made public in new government documents.

Jill Disis

(CNN Money) -- The Murdoch family won big for steering the sale of most of 21st Century Fox to Disney.

A new government filing reveals just how big of a win they achieved.

Rupert Murdoch, the family patriarch and executive chairman of Fox, made $49.2 million during the latest fiscal year, a big chunk of which was in stock awards. That's about $20 million more than he made last year.

Murdoch's sons, executive chairman Lachlan and CEO James, made about $50 million each -— about $30 million more than what they each made last year. Roughly $36.7 million of their shares were stock awards.

The document, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, makes clear that the awards were related to Disney's purchase. It calls Fox's executive officers "critical" to the deal's completion.

The filing noted that the transaction also resulted in a significant windfall for stockholders, with stock prices spiking 75% in the 2018 fiscal year.

Disney spent $71.3 billion to acquire most of the company, including the Fox movie studio, after a prolonged bidding war with Comcast. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.

The Murdochs aren't letting everything go. A "New Fox" company will include the company's major TV channels, including Fox News, Fox Business Network, Fox broadcasting and the sports cable networks FS1 and FS2.

Fox announced earlier this year that Lachlan Murdoch will become chairman and CEO of that new company, while his father serves as co-chairman. James is expected to leave Fox.

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