[4][5] The Trust was initially overseen by Tektronix General Counsel James B. Castles, attorney Paul L. Boley, and Walter P. Dyke as trustees, with Sam C. Smith appointed as its first CEO.
[3] In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Murdock Trust expanded its grant-making to include emergency support for non-profit organizations utilizing an abridged application.
[10] The Murdock Trust's funding priorities were criticized in 2016 for its donations to political organizations,[11] specifically, the $975,000 given to the Alliance Defending Freedom, including $375,000 in 2016.
[12] The Alliance Defending Freedom has been described as an anti-LGBTQ organization and was designated a hate group in February 2017 by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"[14] The Murdock Trust faced additional scrutiny from philanthropy oversight organizations for their $240,000 donation in 2015 to the Freedom Foundation,[15] a group based in Olympia, Washington that seeks to "bankrupt and defeat" government employees' labor unions, according to one of their fundraising letters.