At most offices, water cooler talk revolves around annoying company rules or the quality of the snacks in the break room. But at Fox News, they gossip about the Murdochs, the family who controls Fox’s parent company.

The Murdoch family, one of the most powerful media dynasties in the world, is currently engaged in a bitter battle for control of their media empire.

The future of Fox News – and the rest of the Murdoch media empire – is at stake in a trial this week in Reno, Nevada. Rupert Murdoch wants to change his will to consolidate his eldest son’s power.

The Murdoch family is headed to probate court in Nevada on Monday as Rupert Murdoch looks to amend his trust, which holds major stakes in Fox Corp. and News Corp, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A battle over future control of Fox within the Murdoch family could change how the company will be run when patriarch Rupert Murdoch passes away.

A "momentous" court battle to determine the future of Rupert Murdoch's media empire and his £14.9 billion family trust begins in Nevada today. The fate of "a string of newspapers and television channels consumed by millions of people around the world" is at stake, as well as "thousands of jobs" and "billions of pounds", said Sky News.

The bankers are trying to crunch me. They’ll fail.” Rupert Murdoch looked frazzled but defiant. We were having what was supposed to be a friendly coffee, but this was 2006 and he was under siege from bankers who were trying to cope with his financial over-reach.

When Rupert Murdoch, the 93-year-old media mogul, quietly decided last year to upend the irrevocable family trust that governs who will control his sprawling global media empire after his death, the move ignited an intense feud among his children.

Next week, a probate official will hear evidence in a clash between Rupert Murdoch and some of his children over who should control his media companies after he dies.

“The Motion for Access to the hearings in this case is denied,” probate commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr. ruled today, just four days before the Murdoch family succession case is set to start in Reno. “All hearings in this case shall remain closed to the public and to the media, including the movants.”

The conservative slant of Murdoch’s media empire—which includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal—could be under threat amid a high-stakes succession battle.