Murdoch Family Scores $206 Million in Golden Parachutes After Disney-Fox Deal

No one is going to the poor house when 21st Century Fox is absorbed into the Mouse House

Lachlan Rupert and James Murdoch

The Murdochs have a lot of money, and once Disney’s $52.4 billion acquisition of the bulk of 21st Century Fox goes through, Fox’s top executives can go swimming in a pool of gold coins a la Disney’s Scrooge McDuck.

According to a lengthy Disney SEC filing on Wednesday, Rupert Murdoch stands to get a golden parachute of $66.7 million, with about $40 million of that coming in cash, once the mega-deal is completed.

Now that truly puts the “gold” (and safety concept) in “golden parachute.”

Rupert’s eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch — an executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, like dad — could get $69.1 million after the merger is finalized, with the majority coming in equity and $25.6 million in cash. Lachlan also has $1.2 million in pension coming to him, something pops does not.

Fox CEO James Murdoch actually receives the most of the bunch: $70.6 million. His breakdown between cash and equity ($42.2 million) is the same as big bro — but his pension payout is about $1.5 million higher.

All three of the Murdochs get an additional $15,000 in benefits, which is chump change to those guys.

Now, all of this is assuming there are no roles for the fellas at the Mouse House. Their “New Fox” compensation is unrelated to this Disney filing.

Furthermore, if for some reason Lachlan or James Murdoch is fired before June 30, 2018, that ex-executive will get $22 million in cash six months later as severance.

See those smiles in the above picture? You’d be beaming too.

By the way, it goes Lachlan, Rupert, James, left-to-right — in case you need to know whom to approach for a loan.

Here is a snapshot of golden parachute compensation table, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

Murdochs' Golden Parachutes

Need more Disney-Fox financial deets? Here’s a few hundred pages of Wednesday’s S-4.

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