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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

“This has been the most humbling day of my life,” Rupert Murdoch told MPs in 2011 while the absolute horror of phone hacking at his newspapers. Happily for the media tycoon, his days in the sack didn’t last.

On Monday he sat as one of the chosen guests at the inauguration of Donald Trump. In the summer, as the UK election approached, both Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak rushed to pay tribute to his summer party. The years in between are generally not considered rehabilitative. Murdoch must pay well over $1bn in costs and damages to victims of criminality in his news organizations, industrial interference or malpractice on both sides of the Atlantic.

Wednesday saw a last-minute settlement in a landmark phone-hacking case against his company in Britain, a case involving a victim who had the means and standing to press his day in court. Prince Harry It took the wine but he also settled, supposedly for massive damages, an unprecedented apology and admission of historic illegal activity by private investigators working for The Sun – although not an admission of guilt by senior executives.

said Murdoch News Group Newspapersa subsidiary of News UK, used its financial power to settle at least 1,300 cases out of court, avoiding damaging revelations or questions. UK civil courts exist to award compensation without revealing information. The rules encourage a settlement by charging potential costs to the successful plaintiff if they go to trial and do not get more than the settlement offered in advance. Those who want to fight face impossible risks. Last year the actor Hugh Grant reluctantly settled, saying that not doing so could face millions in legal costs.

For the Duke of Sussex – and his co-complainant, former deputy Labor leader Lord Tom Watson – it’s never about money. They hope a trial will reveal it Murdoch executives to new revelations about the illegal use of private investigators and the company’s efforts to contain the scandal. That possibility has now been ruled out. The duke claimed a “huge victory” but NGN’s strategy worked. A lot of money has been spent to keep these cases from going to trial. In the end even he could not resist the financial risks.

Speaking after the settlement, Prince Harry’s barrister, David Sherborne, said NGN had “deleted over 30 million emails and made false denials”. They got “more than £1bn in payments and expenses”. Sherborne added that the claimants were “strong-armed into the settlement without getting to the truth”. NGN lawyers strongly dispute suggestions of a cover-up and often say the layoffs are part of a broader housekeeping process.

The same mode of payment to avoid the light of day in the court case applied in the US. In 2023, Fox News paid $787 million to settle a defamation case against Dominion Voting Systems for perpetuating the channel’s false claims that it was involved in electoral fraud in the 2020 election. Central to the libel are fears within Fox that failure to endorse Trump’s fraud claims will see viewers leave for more conservative channels. After the deal, Fox hilariously stated: “This settlement demonstrates Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”

That Murdoch is still welcome in Trump’s circles is not surprising. But he is still being courted in the UK. The Tories have scrapped a promised piece of both the public inquiry into media malpractice and anti-state regulation of the press. Starmer followed that line and courted Murdoch while in opposition. The Sun backed Starmer in the election – though perhaps because his victory seemed inevitable.

Murdoch passed formal leadership of his businesses to his eldest son Lachlan and sold his stake in Sky TV. Rebekah Brooks, acquitted of phone hacking but former editor of the Sun and News of the World – and chief executive of the company when the scandal broke – is now CEO of the UK parent company, News UK.

There are many who despise Murdoch for his politics and his influence, although few can dispute his acumen as a business and newspaper man. But what’s important here is that the settlements have prevented awkward questions about the company’s actions. Nick Davies, the journalist who broke the scandal, has painstakingly detailed the issues arising from the memosminutes, emails and documents released by the court prior to the cases that have now been settledwhile emphasizing that they are only part of a story.

Murdoch’s businesses have spent heavily to avoid further public scrutiny. Their bet is that the peak of danger has passed and this latest frenzy will pass. Now the only hope for full transparency is for the police to reopen the accountability issues at the top of the company raised in the new documents and by Sherborne and others, including the former prime minister that Gordon Brown. The police did not identify themselves with the original questions and there are questions to be resolved. If only a new investigation can be secured, it can be called a victory.

Otherwise, there is only one conclusion. Like the Buchanans of The Great Gatsby, Murdoch’s businesses were able to destroy lives and withdraw their money. He and his nobles remained unbowed; fed and fed. The warrior prince wins more than most but, in the end, even he cannot pay the full price of justice.

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