Viet Dinh, the influential chief legal officer of Fox Corp. who is believed to have played a significant role in the company’s failed legal strategy against a massive defamation suit filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems, is leaving his role at the media conglomerate at the end of the year.
He is expected to become a special advisor to the company effectiveDecember 31, 2023.
“We appreciate Viet’s many contributions and service to Fox as both a board member of 21st Century Fox and in his role over the last five years as a valued member of Fox’s leadership team,” said Lachlan Murdoch, Fox’s executive chairman and CEO, in a statement.
Dinh has long been perceived as having a role at Fox that is greater than his title. In January of 2021, then-New York Times media columnist Ben Smith called Dinh ”a kind of regent who mostly runs the company day-to-day.” The FT subsequently reported that Dinh “is making decisions on behalf of Lachlan.” In a March interview that year with David Lat, writer of the Substack newsletter “Original Jurisdiction,” Dinh pushed back at the notion that he had undue control over Fox Corp. affairs. “To ascribe any role to me other than my day job, which is overseeing legal, regulatory, and government affairs, is not only false, it would mean I have far more time than I actually do,” Dinh said in the interview. “Lachlan hired me for what is very much a full-time job, which I can barely manage to do with 24 hours in the day.”
Dinh was believed to have pushed Fox to fight the recent Dominion defamation suit, which alleged the voting technology company was owed millions after Fox News aired false claims about its actions and influence on the 2020 election. It is the second legal proceeding made against Fox News for its coverage of the aftermath of the 2020 race for the White House. Fox has paid out nearly $800 million — $787.5 million of it to Dominion — after it became clear earlier this year that it would be unlikely to prevail in court. Smartmatic, a separate voting technology company, has filed a massive $2.7 billion suit against Fox News that is still pending. Both suits alleged that Fox News falsely claimed the companies had rigged the election, repeated items about the matter and then refused to engage in efforts to set the record straight. The 2020 election was not fixed and its results were certified by multiple legal processes.
Fox said Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the active defamation suit from Smartmatic and others filed by shareholders could be challenging. “There can be no assurance that the ultimate resolution of these pending matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows,” Fox said in the filing, noting that it believed the Smartmatic trial was likely to commence in 2025.
“I have been privileged to be part of the Fox family for over two decades as a director and officer, and I have especially treasured my relationships with Rupert, Lachlan and our talented colleagues over the years,” said Dinh, in a statement. “I look forward to continuing with Fox as Special Advisor, and to returning to my roots of working on multiple ventures and with many clients across a variety of disciplines.”
Dinh initially joined Fox Corp. as its chief legal and policy officer in 2018, and oversaw legal, compliance, and regulatory matters, as well as overseen government affairs. He had served on the boards of directors of both Fox and its corporate sibling, News Corp. He had also been a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, which acquired Bancroft PLLC, a leading Supreme Court and high-stakes litigation firm that Dinh founded. He was a Georgetown University law professor for 20 years and U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy from 2001 to 2003.
