James Murdoch (media executive)
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James Murdoch (born December 1972) is the CEO of British Sky Broadcasting and younger son of billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.[1] He was formerly an executive vice-president of News Corporation,[1] the controlling shareholder of BSkyB[citation needed], and served on the boards of directors of News Datacom and of News Corporation[citation needed]. With his wife Kathryn, née Hufschmid, he has two children[citation needed].
As a teenager James was regarded as the brightest of the Murdoch children, but was also considered something of a rebel.[1] He first came to public notice as a 15-year-old intern at the Sydney Daily Mirror, but made headlines in the rival Sydney Morning Herald after he was photographed asleep on a sofa at a press conference.[1]
James Murdoch attended Horace Mann School in New York City[1] and graduated in 1991[citation needed]. He then studied film and history at Harvard University, but dropped out in 1995 without completing his studies.[1]
At Harvard, James edited underground magazines and drew a comic strip for the college's famed satirical magazine, Harvard Lampoon. He dropped out of college in 1995 and with college friends Brian Brater and Jarret Myer, he backed the establishment of Rawkus Records, an independent hip hop record label. The company was bought by News Corporation in 1998.[1]
In 1996 he joined News Corporation and was appointed chairman of Festival Records[citation needed], a move greeted with some skepticism by the Australian music industry[citation needed], since his only previous experience in this field had been bankrolling Rawkus. He took charge of News Corporation's internet operations, where he invested in a series of ventures, including financial website TheStreet and the shortlived online music site Whammo[citation needed], with mixed results.[1] He also continued to contribute cartoons to US magazine Gear.
James is credited with sparking his father's interest in the Internet, and he reportedly tried to persuade his father to buy internet company Pointcast for US$450 million; it was subsequently sold to another company for just $7 million.[1]
After installing a new management team at Festival[citation needed], Murdoch purchased the controlling 51% share of Mushroom Records in 1999[citation needed], and the merged group was rebranded as Festival Mushroom RecordsTemplate:Citation neeeded. It was at first thought that News might use FMR as the foundation of a new international entertainment company[citation needed], but Festival struggled even while Murdoch was in charge and after his departure its fortunes delined rapidly; the company was wound up in late 2005 and its remaining assets were sold[citation needed]. The recording catalogue was sold to the Australian division of Warner Music for only AU$10 million in October 2005, and the publishing division was sold to Michael Gudinski a month later, for an undisclosed sum[citation needed].
In May 2000 the newly married James was appointed chairman and chief executive of News Corporation's ailing Asian satellite service Star Television, which at the time was losing £100m a year, and he moved to Hong Kong.[1]
On 13 February 2003, James became a director of BSkyB. Later that year, he controversially became CEO of BSkyB, in which News Corporation owns a controlling minority stake. His appointment sparked accusations of nepotism, with some commentators and shareholders feeling that the job had not been opened to outsiders and that Murdoch was too young and inexperienced to run one of the UK's top companies[2] (on appointment he was by far the youngest chief executive of a FTSE 100 company). However as of August 2005 his performance in the job is said to be generally regarded more favourably[citation needed].
Following the shock resignation of his brother Lachlan Murdoch from his executive positions at News Corporation on 29 July 2005, James is now widely viewed as his father's heir-apparent[citation needed].
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "James Murdoch: A chip off the old block?", BBC News, 2003-11-04. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ Bell, Emily. "Rupert and the joys of nepotism", The Guardian, 2003-11-05. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
