The Indimi Family Business

The family feud between Mohammed Indimi, an oil tycoon, and two of his daughters over dividends and shareholding in his Oriental Energy Resources is beginning to look a lot like the family feud involving Rupert Murdoch, a media mogul based in the US.

For ideological reasons, Murdoch wanted Lachlan, one of his four oldest children, to take control of his media empire and schemed to change the terms of the trust, handing equal shares to the children.

The trust was legally difficult to change, and the bid failed after secret court hearings ended in favour of his other children. But all parties later settled out of court.

The Indimis, on the other hand, are fighting in open court. The daughters claim they were shortchanged in a $435 million handout and are in court demanding their 10 per cent stake in Oriental Energy, amounting to $43 million.

Indimi himself, who, unlike his children, is media-shy, is telling the court he bought out his daughters’ shares with $10 million. How this case will end is anybody’s guess.

In the US, what led to the Murdoch dispute was a television drama playing out in their lives. The Indimis are all over social media, playing out their own lives.