Gerson Zweifach of 21st Century Fox.

Following the completion of the The Walt Disney Co.'s multibillion-dollar acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Fox's general counsel will return to the law firm where he spent more than 30 years.

21st Century Fox announced on Thursday Gerson Zweifach will remain its senior executive vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer until the close of the deal with Disney, when he will return to Williams & Connolly. 

The new company that will spin off from the Disney deal, “New Fox”, will have its own general counsel, whose name has not been announced yet.

In July, shareholders of both Disney and 21st Century Fox voted to approve Disney buying out major assets for $71.3 billion. The deal is expected to be closed in the first half of 2019.

Disney would then own the company's television and movie studio, television channels FX and National Geographic, a stake in Hulu, television operations in India and Fox's stake in the London-based TV company Sky.

Zweifach, who did not immediately respond to request for comment on his move, joined Fox in 2012 and has helped guide the New York-based company through a transformational period.

“Over the past six and a half years I have benefited from the staunch support of Rupert [Murdoch], Lachlan, James, and our board, John Nallen and my colleagues who practice law with me here and around the world,” Zweifach said in a statement. “I am going to see our Disney transaction through, and then it's time for me to end my working sabbatical and return home. I will be forever grateful to Rupert for giving me this opportunity.”

At Williams & Connolly, Zweifach, a Yale Law School grad, tried media, First Amendment, antitrust and securities cases. He remained listed on the firm's website as “of counsel” until earlier this year. In 2016, Zweifach was honored as one of “America's 50 Outstanding General Counsel” by The National Law Journal.

In a statement, Dane Butswinkas, chairman of Williams & Connolly, said he's “delighted” to have Zweifach back at the firm.

“While at Fox, Gerson was responsible for overseeing the company's response to investigations in the U.S. and the U.K. relating to phone hacking, the resolution of allegations of sexual harassment at Fox News, the creation of a world class global compliance team, and major M&A matters including the pursuit of Sky and the sale to Disney,” Butswinkas said.

Butswinkas pointed out that for 18 months before the two split into separate public companies, Zweifach served as general counsel of both Twenty-First Century Fox and News Corp.

Zweifach also has the distinction of reigning as one of the highest-paid GCs in several editions of Corporate Counsel's GC Compensation Survey.  According to this year's stats, in 2017, Zweifach took home a base salary of $3 million, as well as $2.5 million in nonequity incentives and $2,370,310 in stock awards, putting him at No.3 in the survey's overall cash compensation rankings.

It appears that Zweifach's colleagues in the C-suite will miss his presence. 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch said in a statement that working with Zweifach has been one of the “great pleasures” of his career.

“He's brilliant, exacting and fun; I'm deeply grateful for his enormous contribution to our company, and for his friendship,” Murdoch said.

This story has been updated to include comment from the chairman of Williams & Connolly.