Someone here at FR said pretty much exactly this two days ago. Wish I could remember who.
Everyone knows these media figgers are bound by contracts, they’re never “fired” until the contract terms are negotiated. The Murdorks have a lot of exposure for damage if this is not resolved quickly, especially if they want to sell the company at a high valuation, which will become increasingly unlikely as uncertainty, rumor and innuendo erode the confidence of potential buyers.
The big indicator here was the report that Carlson had retained a top media attorney to represent him. That suggested to me that he was looking to get out of a contract that would have bound him to Fox News even after they "fired" him.
On the one hand, he'd have a hard time making the case that he needs the money if Fox News is willing to pay him $20M/year to do nothing.
On the other hand, he could easily claim that he's worth far more than that on the open market -- and that Fox would be diminishing his value and future earning potential by keeping him off the air.
I saw Megyn’s video about this on Twitter two or three days ago. (The same one that’s quoted in this article.)