Aug 29, 2026 – 5.00amThe meeting was a disaster. Rupert Murdoch, the then 92-year-old media mogul who had spent a lifetime doing deals, had invited daughter Elisabeth to his Mayfair apartment to negotiate one that was very close to home. As they sat on the sofa, she watched her father draw on one of the yellow legal pads he had always been fond of. It reminded her of her childhood, when her father would sketch out boxes of shares and trusts showing how the family business worked – and how the family controlled it.“I always loved it as a child, sitting at his knee looking at it because it was very much part of our life and the understanding of the family trust and the company,” she said. But as her legal deposition continued, it was clear this meeting would not be a happy memory. “What I found devastating was that I was getting drawn pictures of how I was going to be erased.”Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Joshua PeachData journalistJoshua Peach is a data journalist and part of The AFR Data Investigations team.Fiona BuffiniPremium content and features editorFiona Buffini is editor of premium content and features. She is a former editor, digital editor and news director of The Australian Financial Review.Lucy KingJournalistLucy King reports on data-driven investigations and explainersFetching latest articles