- James Murdoch
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For other uses, see James Murdoch (disambiguation).
James Murdoch
James Murdoch speaking at a digital media conferenceBorn December 13, 1972
Wimbledon, London, EnglandOccupation Chairman and CEO of News Corporation Europe and Asia
Chairman of SKY Italia
Chairman of STAR TV
Non-Executive Chairman of British Sky Broadcasting
Non-Executive Director of GlaxoSmithKlineSpouse Kathryn Hufschmid (m. 2000–present) Children Anneka (b. 2003)
Walter (b. 2006)Parents Rupert Murdoch, Anna Maria Torv James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and currently serves as chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, Europe, and Asia, overseeing assets such as News International (British newspapers), SKY Italia (satellite television in Italy), Sky Deutschland, and STAR TV (satellite television in Asia).
He sits on the News Corporation board of directors and is a member of the office of the chairman. He is also non-executive chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, in which News Corporation has a controlling minority stake.
He was formerly an executive vice president of News Corporation, the controlling shareholder of BSkyB, and served on the boards of directors of News Datacom and of News Corporation.[1]
James Murdoch is a British subject by birth and a naturalised U.S. citizen. He would have lost Australian citizenship when his father became a U.S. citizen, but he is eligible to reclaim Australian citizenship.
Contents
Early life
He is the fourth of multibillionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s six children, and the third with Scottish-born Anna Maria Torv.[2]
As a youngster 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 The Sydney Morning Herald after he was photographed asleep on a sofa at a press conference.[1]
Murdoch attended Horace Mann School in New York City[1] and graduated in 1991. He then studied film and history at Harvard University, where Murdoch edited underground magazines and drew a comic strip for the college’s famed satirical magazine, Harvard Lampoon. He dropped out of university in 1995 without completing his studies.[1] With university 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]
Business career
In 1996 he joined News Corporation and was appointed chairman of Festival Records. He took charge of News Corporation’s internet operations, where he invested in a series of ventures, including financial website TheStreet and the short-lived online music site Whammo, with mixed results.[1] He also continued to contribute cartoons to U.S. magazine Gear.
Murdoch 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 $7 million.[1]
After installing a new management team at Festival, Murdoch purchased the controlling 51 percent share of Mushroom Records in 1999, and the merged group was rebranded as Festival Mushroom Records.[citation needed] It was at first thought that News might use FMR as the foundation of a new international entertainment company, but Festival struggled while Murdoch was in charge and after his departure its fortunes declined rapidly; the company was wound up in late 2005 and its remaining assets were sold. The recording catalogue was sold to the Australian division of Warner Music for only A$10 million in October 2005, and the publishing division was sold to Michael Gudinski a month later, for an undisclosed sum.
In May 2000, the newly married Murdoch 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[3] (on appointment he was by far the youngest chief executive of a FTSE 100 company).
Following the shock resignation of his brother Lachlan Murdoch from his executive positions at News Corporation on 29 July 2005, James is widely viewed as his father’s heir-apparent.[4]
On 7 December 2007, Murdoch stepped down as CEO from BSkyB and was appointed non-executive chairman of the company (a position formerly held by his father, Rupert).[5]
In a related announcement, Murdoch also took “direct responsibility for the strategic and operational development of News Corporation’s television, newspaper, and related digital assets in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.”[6] This included holdings such as News International, SKY Italia, STAR Group ltd and possibly other News Corp. related assets. He was based at News International’s headquarters in Wapping, East London.
In February 2009, Murdoch was appointed a non-executive director with the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.[7]
On 28 August 2009, Murdoch delivered the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, in which he attacked the BBC and UK media regulator Ofcom calling the BBC’s expansion “chilling” and “In this all-media marketplace, the expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision, which are so important for our democracy.”[4][8] The BBC chairman, Sir Michael Lyons officially responded, “We have to be careful not to reduce the whole of broadcasting to some simple economic transactions. The BBC’s public purposes stress the importance of the well-tested principles of educating and informing, and an impartial contribution to debate in the UK.”[9]
In April 2010, Murdoch and his associate Rebekah Brooks stormed into the offices of The Independent to complain about an advertisement campaign by the newspaper.[10] The advertisement read, “Rupert Murdoch won’t decide this election—you will.”
On 7 July 2011, James Murdoch announced the closure of the British tabloid newspaper the News of the World in the wake of a phone hacking scandal.[11]
On 19 July 2011, along with his father, Rupert, he appeared at a hearing of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee. He appeared once again before the same committee on Thursday 10 November 2011.
On 22 July 2011, Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, said that James Murdoch has “questions to answer in Parliament,” a day after former top executives of the News of the World accused the News Corporation executive of giving “mistaken” evidence.[12]
Personal life
James Murdoch has three children, Anneka (born in May 2003 in Hong Kong), Walter (born 2006), and Emerson (born 2008) with his American wife Kathryn Hufschmid, who works for the Clinton Climate Initiative, a charitable foundation set up by the former U.S. president, Bill Clinton in 2006.[2]
Apparently in 2011, James Murdoch has been promoted and will relocate to New York. This has triggered a rumour that James is the person behind the $23 million purchase of the Muppet Mansion, the house formerly owned by Jim Henson. [13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "James Murdoch: A chip off the old block?". BBC News. 4 November 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3132678.stm. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
- ^ a b Robinson, James (9 December 2007). "Triumph of the family man". The Observer (London). http://observer.guardian.co.uk/7days/story/0,,2224563,00.html. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
- ^ Bell, Emily (5 November 2003). "Rupert and the joys of nepotism". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1078016,00.html. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
- ^ a b James Robinson "James Murdoch hits out at BBC and regulators at Edinburgh TV festival", The Guardian, 28 August 2009
- ^ Peston, Robert (7 December 2007). "Murdoch son gets key media role". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7131975.stm. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ News Corporation
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris (2 February 2009). "James Murdoch takes GlaxoSmithKline role". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/02/james-murdoch-in-glaxosmithcline-role. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Murdoch's Son: BBC Expansion Is "Chilling," A Threat To Independent Journalism. Huffington Post. 29 August 2009.
- ^ The Guardian (London). http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Media/documents/2009/08/28/bbc-mactaggart-response.pdf. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ White, Michael (22 April 2010). "Murdoch-Wade posse crash Independent's office – that's pretty uncool, isn’t it?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/apr/22/murdoch-wade-crash-independent. Retrieved 8 Sep 2010.
- ^ Owen, Paul (7 July 2011). "News of the World to close on Sunday – live coverage | Media | guardian.co.uk". Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/07/news-of-the-world-phone-hacking-live-coverage. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- ^ "Cameron says James Murdoch has questions to answer in Parliament". CNN edition (US). 22 July 2011. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/22/britain.murdoch.mistaken/. Retrieved 22 Jul 2011.
- ^ http://ny.curbed.com/tags/117-east-69th-street
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Published articles at Journalisted
- James Murdoch collected news and commentary at Bloomberg News
- James Murdoch collected news and commentary at The Economist
- James Murdoch collected news and commentary at Forbes
- James Murdoch collected news and commentary at The Guardian
- James Murdoch collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- James Murdoch collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
- James Murdoch at the Notable Names Database
2011 News Corporation scandal Events Companies and
organisations- British Sky Broadcasting (39.1%)
- News International (News of the World
- The Sun
- The Times
- The Sunday Times)
- News Limited
OtherPeople Alleged victims- Sue Akers
- Peter Clarke
- Andy Hayman
- Paul Stephenson
- John Yates
- Rebekah Brooks
- Jonathan Chapman
- Daniel Cloke
- Andy Coulson
- Tom Crone
- Wendi Deng Murdoch
- James Desborough
- Ian Edmondson
- Clive Goodman
- Baron Grabiner
- Simon Greenberg
- Les Hinton
- Sean Hoare
- Joel Klein
- Stuart Kuttner
- William Lewis
- Greg Miskiw
- Tom Mockridge
- Glenn Mulcaire
- James Murdoch
- Rupert Murdoch
- Colin Myler
- Jamie Pyatt
- Jonathan Rees
- Neville Thurlbeck
- Neil Wallis
- James Weatherup
OtherInvestigations
and legal cases- HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan
- Leveson Inquiry
- Operation Elveden
- Operation Tuleta
- Operation Weeting
OtherOther News Corporation Percentages indicate percentage ownershipCorporate directors:
Rupert Murdoch · José María Aznar · Natalie Bancroft · Chase Carey · David DeVoe · Arthur Siskind · Rod Eddington · Andrew Knight · James Murdoch · Lachlan Murdoch · Rod Paige · Thomas Perkins · Viet Dinh · John L. ThorntonDow Jones & Company National consumer products - All Things Digital
- Barron's
- Financial News
- FINS.com
- MarketWatch.com
- BigCharts
- VSE
- SmartMoney
- Vedomosti
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Wall Street Journal Asia
- The Wall Street Journal Europe
- Wall Street Journal Radio Network
- WSJ.
Dow Jones Local Media Group Enterprise products Fox Filmed Entertainment 20th Century Fox · 20th Century Fox Animation · 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment · 20th Century Fox Television · 20th Television · Fox 21 · Fox Star Studios · Blue Sky Studios · Fox Faith · Fox Searchlight Pictures · Fox Studios Australia · Fox Television Studios · Fox MusicFox Broadcasting Company Fox Television Stations Fox Cable Networks FX · Fox Movie Channel · Fox Sports Net1 · Fox Soccer · Fox Soccer Plus · Speed Channel · FUEL TV · Fox College SportsFox News Network Fox International Channels Fox (Asia · Germany · Italy · Latin America · Poland · Portugal · Spain · Turkey) · Fox Life (Greece · Italy) · FX (Asia · Australia · Greece · Latin America · UK) · Fox Crime (Asia · Italy) · Fox Retro · Fox Sports · BabyTV · Utilisima · Speed · tvN6 · Fox Family Movies · Fox History & Traveller · Cult · Voyage · National Geographic International Channels (52%)4 (National Geographic Channel (Asia · Germany · Greece · Scandinavia5 · UK5) · Nat Geo WILD4 · Nat Geo Mundo4 · National Geographic Adventure · Nat Geo Music · Premier Media Group (50%)Fox Sports International Fox Pan American Sports (33%)7 (Fox Deportes · Fox Sports Latinoamérica)News Corp. Digital Media FoxSports.com (Scout.com · WhatIfSports · Yardbarker) IGN Entertainment (AskMen.com · GameScoop · GameSpy · GameStats · IGN · Planet Network · TeamXbox · UGO Networks (1UP.com · GameTab) · Vault Network)Investments Big Ten Network (51%)8 · Fox Telecolombia (51%) LAP TV (55%) · National Geographic Channel (70%) (National Geographic Wild)4 · Telecine (13%)9 Showtime Australia (50%)10 · STATS (50%)11 LAP TV4 Owned with the National Geographic Society 5 Originally a joint venture with sister company British Sky Broadcasting (1997 – 2007) 6 Joint venture with CJ Media Korea 7 Owned with HM Capital Partners 8 Owned with Big Ten Conference 9 Owned with Globosat, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, MGM and DreamWorks 10 Owned with Sony Pictures Entertainment, NBCUniversal, Viacom, and Liberty Global 11 Owned with Associated Press
USA - Amistad
- Avon
- Caedmon
- Ecco
- Greenwillow
- Harper
- Harper Perennial
- HarperOne
- I Can Read!
- It
- Joanna Cotler
- Katherine Tegan
- Laura Gerringer
- Morrow
- Newmarket
- Rayo
- Thomas Nelson
- Zondervan
UK - Collins
- Collins Bartholomew
- Fourth Estate
- The Friday Project
- Blue Door
- Thorsons/Element
- Voyager
Australia - Angus & Robertson
- The Times
- The Sunday Times
- The Sun
- Times Literary Supplement
Metropolitan newspapers Community newspapers - Sun newspapers (Northern Territory)
Regional newspapers Sports - Brisbane Broncos (68.87%)
- Melbourne Storm
- National Rugby League (50%)
Other properties - Newspoll (50%)
- Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (63%)
- Premier Media Group (50%)
Channels - Sky Uno
- Sky Sport
- Sky Calcio
- Sky Cinema
- Sky Primafila
- Sky TG24
- Sky Meteo24
- Sky Radio
Defunct channels - SKY Vivo
- SKY Show
Joint ventures
(Radio stations)- Sky Music
- 50 Songs
- Yesterjay '90
- Yesterjay '80
- Capital '70
- Vintage '60
- Rock Classic
- Rock Shock
- Soulsista
- Hit Italia
- ItalianVintage
- Livetime
- Heart 'n Song
- B-Side
- Ritmo Latino
- Dance
- Yesterday 2000
- Jazz & Fusion
- Jazz Gold
- Soul Train
- Extrabeat
- Sinfonia
- Opera
- Cinema Deejay
- Baby Mix
- Disc Joker
See also - Sky HD (Italy)
- List of channels on Sky Italia
India Channel [V] · STAR Gold · STAR Jalsha · STAR Movies · STAR One · Star Plus · Star Pravah · STAR Utsav · STAR World · Asianet Communications (81%)8 (Asianet · Asianet Sitara · Asianet Suvarna)( · ESPN Star Sports (50%)9 · Hathway (17%) · MCCS (26%)10 (STAR News · STAR Ananda · STAR Majha) · Vijay (81%) · Tata Sky (30%)11China STAR Chinese Channel · STAR Chinese Movies · Xing Kong (47%)12 · Channel [V] · Phoenix Television (18%)Star Select Broadcast Middle East (50%)11 (FARSI1 · Zemzemeh) · Rotana (15%)8 With Jupiter Entertainment 9 With ESPN 10 With ABP Group 11 With China Media Capital 11 With Tata Group 12 With MOBY GroupUS newspapers The Daily · New York Post · Community Newspaper Group (Bronx Times-Reporter · The Brooklyn Paper · Courier-Life Newspapers · TimesLedger Newspapers)Satellite investments BSkyB (39.1%) · Foxtel (25%) · Sky Deutschland (49.90%) · Sky Network Television (44%)
Other assets News America Marketing · NDS (49%) · News Outdoor · STAR DEN (50%) · Hulu1 · MySpace (5%)
1 Joint venture with NBC Universal and The Walt Disney Company.
Annual revenue $30.4 billion USD (17% FY 2009) · Employees 64,000 · Stock symbols NYSE: NWS / NYSE: NWSa / ASX: NWS / LSE: NCRA
See also List of assets owned by News CorporationCategories:- 1972 births
- Australian media executives
- British media executives
- British people of Australian descent
- Harvard Lampoon people
- Harvard University people
- Horace Mann School alumni
- Living people
- Australian people of Scottish descent
- Murdoch family
- News Corporation
- News International phone hacking scandal
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