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Commitments and Contingencies
 6 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Commitments
The Company has commitments under certain firm contractual arrangements (“firm commitments”) to make future payments. These firm commitments secure the future rights to various assets and services to be used in the normal course of operations. The total firm commitments and future debt payments as of December 31, 2025 and June 30, 2025 were approximately $34 billion and $35 billion, respectively. The decrease from June 30, 2025 was primarily due to sports programming rights payments.
Legal and Other Contingencies
The Company establishes an accrued liability for legal claims and indemnification claims when the Company determines that a loss is both probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Once established, accruals are adjusted from time to time, as appropriate, in light of additional information. The amount of any loss ultimately incurred in relation to matters for which an accrual has been established may be higher or lower than the amounts accrued for such matters. Any fees, expenses, fines, penalties, judgments or settlements which might be incurred by the Company in connection with the various proceedings could affect the Company’s results of operations and financial condition. For the contingencies disclosed below for which there is at least a reasonable possibility that a loss may be incurred, other than the accrual provided, the Company was unable to estimate the amount of loss or range of loss.
FOX News
The Company’s FOX News business and certain of its current and former employees have been subject to allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex and race. The Company has resolved many of these claims and is contesting other claims in litigation. The Company has also received regulatory and investigative inquiries relating to these matters. To date, none of the amounts paid in settlements or reserved for pending or future claims is material, individually or in the aggregate, to the Company. The amount of additional liability, if any, that may result from these or related matters cannot be estimated at this time. However, the Company does not currently anticipate that the ultimate resolution of any such pending matters will have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
U.K. Newspaper Matters Indemnity
In connection with the separation of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (“21CF”) and News Corporation in June 2013 (the “21CF News Corporation Separation”), 21CF agreed to indemnify News Corporation, on an after-tax basis, for payments made after the 21CF News Corporation Separation arising out of civil claims and investigations relating to phone hacking, illegal data access and inappropriate payments to public officials that occurred at subsidiaries of News Corporation before the 21CF News Corporation Separation, as well as legal and professional fees and expenses paid in connection with the related criminal matters, other than fees, expenses and costs relating to employees who are not (i) directors, officers or certain designated employees or (ii) with respect to civil matters, co-defendants with News Corporation (the “U.K. Newspaper Matters Indemnity”). In accordance with the separation agreement entered into connection with the separation of 21CF and the Company in 2019 and 21CF becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) (the “Transaction”), the Company assumed certain costs and liabilities related to the U.K. Newspaper Matters Indemnity. The liability recorded in the Balance Sheets related to the indemnity was approximately $30 million as of June 30, 2025 and approximately $25 million as of December 31, 2025.
Defamation and Disparagement Claims
From time to time, the Company and its news businesses, including FOX News Media and the FOX Television Stations, and their employees are subject to lawsuits alleging defamation or disparagement. This
includes the lawsuit filed by Smartmatic USA Corp. and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Smartmatic”) in February 2021 seeking $2.7 billion in damages.
The Company continues to believe the Smartmatic and other pending lawsuits alleging defamation or disparagement are without merit and intends to defend against them vigorously, including through any appeals. The parties argued summary judgment motions in the Smartmatic case on December 2, 2025. At this time, no trial date has been set by the court in the Smartmatic lawsuit and a trial is not expected to commence until later in 2026 at the earliest. The Company is unable to predict the final outcome of these matters and has determined that a loss in the Smartmatic case is neither probable nor reasonably estimable. 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.
In 2023, stockholders of the Company filed derivative lawsuits in the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Chancery Court”) against certain directors and officers of the Company, naming the Company as a nominal defendant. The Chancery Court consolidated the lawsuits into one matter captioned In re Fox Corporation Deriv. Litig., C.A. No. 2023-0418 (Del.Ch.). On April 26, 2024, the lead plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that alleges that certain directors and officers, as applicable, breached their fiduciary duties by allowing the Company’s news channel to air allegations regarding election fraud in connection with the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, which resulted in significant defamation litigation. The amended complaint seeks orders awarding damages in favor of the Company; directing the Company to reform and improve its policies and procedures; and awarding the plaintiffs attorneys' fees and costs. On December 27, 2024, the Chancery Court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On February 18, 2025, the Chancellor of the Chancery Court, on the Chancellor’s own motion, reassigned the consolidated lawsuit to a different Vice Chancellor. On April 28, 2025, the Chancery Court granted the defendants’ motion for leave to move for summary judgment on an issue relating to director independence and limited discovery on this issue is ongoing. The Company intends to continue to vigorously defend against these claims.
Tax Contingencies
The Company’s operations are subject to tax primarily in various domestic jurisdictions and as a matter of course, the Company is regularly audited by federal and state tax authorities. The Company believes it has appropriately accrued for the expected outcome of all pending tax matters and does not currently anticipate that the ultimate resolution of pending tax matters will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial condition, future results of operations or liquidity. In connection with the Transaction, each member of the 21CF consolidated group, which includes 21CF, the Company (prior to the Transaction) and 21CF’s other subsidiaries, is jointly and severally liable for the U.S. federal income and, in certain jurisdictions, state tax liabilities of each other member of the consolidated group. Consequently, the Company could be liable in the event any such liability is incurred, and not discharged, by any other member of the 21CF consolidated group. The tax matters agreement entered into in connection with the Transaction requires 21CF and/or Disney to indemnify the Company for any such liability. Disputes or assessments could arise during current or future audits by the IRS in amounts that the Company cannot quantify.