Fox is changing the leadership of its legal function at a consequential moment for the media company. Adam Ciongoli, its chief legal and policy officer, will step down effective Dec. 1 after deciding not to renew his contract. Nicholas Trutanich, now executive vice president and principal deputy general counsel, will become Fox’s general counsel and report directly to executive chair and CEO Lachlan Murdoch.

The transition is designed with a lengthy overlap of institutional knowledge rather than a clean departure: Ciongoli will remain a special adviser to Fox through June 2028. At the same time, Kristopher Jones, executive vice president and head of government relations, will begin reporting to Fox president and COO John Nallen on Dec. 1.

The executive moves arrive while Fox’s proposed $22 billion acquisition of streaming-platform company Roku remains pending. Both companies’ shareholders have approved the agreement, but it still requires Justice Department clearance. Fox and Roku expect the transaction to close during the first half of 2027.

What is changing at Fox

Ciongoli’s departure from the chief legal and policy officer post closes a tenure that began in 2023. His successor is coming from within the company’s legal organization: Trutanich has been at Fox for five years and currently serves as its principal deputy general counsel.

That distinction matters. A general counsel is the senior executive responsible for a company’s legal affairs. The role commonly includes advising senior leadership and the board on legal risk, overseeing litigation and outside counsel, and helping coordinate compliance work across the business. In a media company, those responsibilities can span corporate transactions, regulation, contracts, intellectual property, distribution, employment matters and disputes.

Fox said Trutanich will bring legal, litigation and compliance experience to the expanded role. Compliance, in this context, means the processes a company uses to operate in line with applicable laws, regulations and internal policies. It is separate from litigation, although the two often intersect when a company is responding to a claim, investigation or regulatory matter.

Murdoch credited Ciongoli for his contributions during the past three years and said the company was grateful he would continue as a special adviser. He also described Trutanich as a critical part of the Fox team since his arrival and emphasized the new general counsel’s depth in litigation and compliance.

Trutanich said he was honored to take the job and to lead Fox’s legal team, characterizing the period as one of growth and innovation for the company.

Related coverage includes Fox Names Nicholas Trutanich General Counsel as Adam Ciongoli Steps Down.

A transition that preserves access to experience

The adviser arrangement gives Fox continued access to Ciongoli after he leaves the chief legal and policy officer role. The company has not detailed the precise scope of his adviser work, so it would be premature to assume that he will handle a particular transaction, case or policy question. What is clear is its duration: the arrangement runs through June 2028, well beyond the Dec. 1 handover.

That continuity may be meaningful as the company works through a major pending corporate deal. A transaction of the proposed Roku acquisition’s size involves more than shareholder approval. The remaining Justice Department clearance means the deal is still subject to a government review process before the companies can complete it. Shareholder approval signals that investors have backed the agreement; it does not itself finish the regulatory side of the process.

The stated target of the first half of 2027 is an expectation, not confirmation that the deal will close on that timetable. The regulatory clearance remains pending, and Fox’s announcement does not specify how the review will proceed.

For Trutanich, taking the general counsel role before that anticipated closing window puts a long-running corporate matter among the clearest pieces of immediate context for his new position. Still, the company has not said that the leadership change was caused by, or specifically structured around, the Roku deal. The confirmed reason for Ciongoli’s change is that he will not renew his contract.

Before joining Fox, Trutanich served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada from 2019 to 2021. He also held senior roles in the Nevada attorney general’s office, worked as a federal prosecutor within the Department of Justice, practiced as a litigator in the private sector and served as a federal law clerk earlier in his career.

That background is relevant to the company’s stated emphasis on litigation and compliance. Litigation is the process of resolving legal disputes through courts or related formal proceedings. A prosecutor’s work and an attorney general’s office role are not the same thing as representing a corporation, but both can provide experience with investigations, courtroom processes, enforcement questions and legal procedure. His Fox experience as principal deputy general counsel, meanwhile, provides the direct internal-company context for moving into the top legal job.

Reporting directly to Murdoch also establishes a clear chain of command for the legal organization. Direct reporting lines can be particularly important in a general counsel role because legal advice may need to reach the chief executive and senior decision-makers quickly, especially during transactions, litigation or regulatory reviews.

Ciongoli’s experience across corporate law, governance and policy

Ciongoli joined Fox after serving as general counsel and chief sustainability, corporate responsibility and governance officer at Campbell Soup Co. His earlier corporate legal posts included general counsel roles at Lincoln Financial Group, Willis Group Holdings PLC and Time Warner Europe.

His background also includes public-sector legal and policy work. Ciongoli was counselor to John Ashcroft during Ashcroft’s time as U.S. attorney general, served as chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights, and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

The combination of corporate legal, governance and policy experience helps explain why his Fox title included both legal and policy responsibilities. Corporate governance refers broadly to the structures and practices through which a company is directed and overseen, including the relationship between management, the board and shareholders. It is a core concern during major corporate decisions, even when the day-to-day work of the legal department covers a far wider set of issues.

In his statement, Ciongoli said that being part of Fox had been a privilege and that he valued his relationships with Murdoch and colleagues. He said he looked forward to continuing to work with Fox as a special adviser.

Government relations shifts to the COO

Fox is also adjusting its executive reporting structure for government relations. Jones, the company’s executive vice president and head of government relations, will report directly to Nallen, the president and COO, beginning Dec. 1.

Government relations generally describes a company’s work engaging with government bodies and public-policy processes. It is distinct from the legal department, though the functions may coordinate on issues that involve regulation, legislation or government review. Fox did not announce a change to Jones’s title or say that his responsibilities are being altered; the stated change is his reporting line.

Placing that function under the COO can connect government-relations work more directly to companywide operational leadership. However, Fox has not provided a specific rationale for the move, so the practical effect should not be overstated beyond the announced management structure.

Why the Roku review remains the major business backdrop

Fox’s brands include Fox News Media, Fox Sports, Tubi Media Group, Fox Entertainment and Fox Television Stations. The proposed Roku deal places a streaming-platform acquisition alongside that broader portfolio of news, sports, entertainment, streaming and local-station businesses.

With the deal awaiting Justice Department clearance, legal leadership will necessarily be part of the company’s broader corporate framework during the pending period. That does not mean every element of the review sits with the general counsel alone: regulatory matters typically involve executives, internal specialists and outside advisers as needed. But legal leadership is central to how a public company evaluates obligations, risk and process around a significant acquisition.

The wider consumer-tech and media environment also keeps platform questions in view. For another recent example of how television-related technology remains a major industry focus, see Apple’s latest TV-focused software release candidate news.

What has been confirmed—and what has not

  • Confirmed: Ciongoli steps down as chief legal and policy officer on Dec. 1 and will serve as a Fox special adviser through June 2028.
  • Confirmed: Trutanich becomes general counsel on Dec. 1 and will report to Lachlan Murdoch.
  • Confirmed: Jones will report to John Nallen from Dec. 1 while continuing as head of government relations.
  • Confirmed: Fox and Roku shareholder approvals have been obtained for the $22 billion proposed acquisition, while Justice Department clearance remains pending.
  • Not confirmed: Whether the proposed acquisition will close in the first half of 2027. That remains the companies’ expectation, subject to clearance.
  • Not stated: Any detailed division of duties between Ciongoli’s adviser role and Trutanich’s general-counsel responsibilities after the transition.

The most immediate takeaway is a planned succession with an internal legal leader taking the top role and the outgoing executive remaining available to the company for several years. Fox is retaining continuity while putting Trutanich in charge of a legal organization entering a period shaped by a pending, high-value streaming-platform transaction and an adjusted government-relations reporting line.