Delaware judge orders Fox Corp to produce hundreds of internal documents in shareholder lawsuit
A Delaware court has compelled Fox Corp to turn over roughly 700 documents, including board minutes and emails, to shareholders alleging misconduct.
In a small courtroom in southern Delaware, a judge denied Fox Corp’s request to withhold a trove of internal papers, ordering the company to produce about 700 documents that mention "phone hacking" and contain board meeting records and emails from Jacques Nasser’s Ford accounts. The shareholders’ suit, launched three years ago, accuses Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch and other directors of fostering a business model prone to scandal, citing the near-$800 million Dominion Voting Systems settlement and a pending $2.7 billion Smartmatic claim.
The complaint also references an undisclosed settlement with the family of Seth Rich and a historic phone-hacking scandal that cost News Corp. billions. Plaintiffs argue that Nasser, who served as lead independent director until 2023, may not have acted independently, potentially compromising board oversight. The court’s order includes a requirement for Fox to provide a full list of email addresses used by Murdoch and Nasser and to release years of board minutes, as well as sealed Smartmatic documents related to alleged evidence spoliation.
Why it matters
The disclosure could reveal whether Fox’s leadership concealed wrongdoing, affecting shareholder rights and corporate governance.
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