American billionaire and owner of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, has lost his attempt to change the family’s trust to consolidate eldest son Lachlan’s control of his media empire after a Nevada commissioner ruled that the father and the son had acted in ‘bad faith’.

According to the New York Times, the current irrevocable trust divides the company’s control equally among Mr Murdoch’s four oldest children Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence — after his death.

However, the father and son, the head of Fox News and News Corp, had moved to amend the terms of the trust to give the latter more control of the media, which ultimately resulted in a legal tussle between the Murdoch family.

Through his News Corp company, Mr Murdoch owns dozens of other media outlets, including The Sun and The Times in the United Kingdom, The Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun in Australia, The Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the U.S. and other publishing companies.

In a sealed court document obtained by the Times following a decision filed by commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr on Saturday, the Nevada commission ruled against Mr Murdoch and Lachlan and even characterised the plan to change the trust as a “carefully crafted charade” in the scathing 96-page opinion.

Mr Gorman also faulted Mr Murdoch’sattempt to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” inside the empire “regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust.

In a statement following the ruling, James, Elisabeth and Prudence said, “We welcome Commissioner Gorman’s decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members.”

Meanwhile, the lawyer for the father and son duo, Adam Streisand, said Mr Murdoch and Lachlan were disappointed with the ruling and intended to appeal.