James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is a British-American businessman, the younger son of media mogul
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, and was the chief executive officer (CEO) of
21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
He was the chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia of
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
until 2013 when it was split into
News Corp and 21st Century Fox. He was formerly a director of News Corp and was a member of the office of the chairman.
Until April 2012, he was the chairman and CEO of
Sky plc, Europe and Asia, where he oversaw assets such as
News International (British newspapers; publisher of ''The News of the World'' newspaper),
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...
(satellite television in Italy),
Sky Deutschland
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...
, and
STAR TV Star TV may refer to:
* E! (Canadian TV channel) (formerly Star!), a Canadian entertainment news channel
* Las Estrellas (Spanish for The Stars), the Mexican television network
* Estrella TV (Spanish for Star TV), the American Spanish-language net ...
(satellite television in Asia).
He was executive chairman of News International from 2007 until February 2012. He previously held a non-executive chair at
British Sky Broadcasting
Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
, in which News Corporation had a controlling minority stake. In April 2012, he was forced to resign as chairman of BSkyB in the wake of the ongoing
phone hacking scandal, in which he was implicated. He was reappointed chairman of the company following its merger with its Italian and German sister companies to form
Sky plc.
He was formerly an executive vice-president of
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
(the controlling shareholder of BSkyB) and served on the board of directors of
News Datacom
Cisco Videoscape (formerly NDS Group and currently known as Synamedia) was a majority owned subsidiary of News Corp, which develops software for the pay TV industry (including cable, satellite and others). NDS Group was established in 1988 as an ...
and of News Corporation.
In May 2012, a highly critical UK Parliamentary report said that Murdoch "showed wilful ignorance of the extent of phone-hacking" and found him "guilty of an astonishing lack of curiosity" over the issue. It went on to say that both Murdoch and his father, Rupert, "should ultimately be prepared to take responsibility" for wrongdoing at the ''News of the World'' and News International.
Murdoch is a British citizen by birth and a naturalised US citizen. He lost Australian citizenship when his father became a US citizen, but he is eligible to reclaim it.
Early life
Murdoch was born at Wimbledon Hospital in
Wimbledon,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England. He is the fourth child of billionaire media mogul
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
's six children, and the third with Scottish-born journalist and author
Anna Murdoch Mann (née Torv).
As a youngster James was regarded as the brightest of the Murdoch children, but also considered something of a rebel.
He first came to public notice as a 15-year-old intern at the Sydney ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'' but made headlines in the rival ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' after he was photographed asleep on a sofa at a press conference.
Murdoch attended
Horace Mann School
, motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails
, address = 231 West 246th Street
, city = The Bronx
, state = New York
, zipcode = 10471
, countr ...
in New York City
and graduated in 1991. He then studied film and history at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, where he was a member of the ''
Harvard Lampoon
''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Overview
The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...
''. He dropped out of university in 1995 without completing his studies.
With university friends Brian Brater and
Jarret Myer
Jarret Myer (born February 6, 1973) is an American media entrepreneur who co-founded the record label Rawkus Records, the YouTube talent company Big Frame, and the digital media brand Uproxx. Since the sale of Uproxx to Woven Digital in 2014, Mye ...
, he backed the establishment of
Rawkus Records
Rawkus Records was an American hip hop record label known for starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with releases in hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One).
Label heads Brian Brater and Jarret Myer then si ...
, an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
hip hop record label. The company was bought by News Corporation in 1998.
Business career
In 1996, Murdoch joined News Corporation and was appointed chairman of
Festival Records
Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to ...
. He took charge of News Corporation's internet operations, where he invested in a series of ventures, including financial website
TheStreet
''TheStreet'' is a financial news and financial literacy website. It is a subsidiary of The Arena Group. The company provides both free content and subscription services such as Action Alerts Plus a stock recommendation portfolio co-managed by ...
and the short-lived online music site Whammo, with mixed results.
He also continued to contribute cartoons to US magazine ''Gear''.
He is credited with sparking his father's interest in the internet, and he reportedly tried to persuade his father to buy internet company
PointCast
PointCast was a dot-com company founded in 1992 by Christopher R. Hassett in Sunnyvale, California.
PointCast Network
The company's initial product amounted to a screensaver that displayed news and other information, delivered live over the Inter ...
for US$450 million. It was subsequently sold to another company for $7 million.
After installing a new management team at Festival, Murdoch purchased the controlling 51% share of
Mushroom Records in 1999, and the merged group was rebranded as Festival Mushroom Records (FMR). It was at first thought that News Corporation might use FMR as the foundation of a new international entertainment company, but FMR struggled while Murdoch was in charge and after his departure its fortunes declined rapidly. FMR was closed in late 2005 and its remaining assets were sold: the recording catalogue was sold to the Australian division of
Warner Music
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...
for A$10 million in October 2005, and the publishing division was sold to
Michael Gudinski
Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne to Jewish Russian immigrants, Gudinski form ...
a month later, for an undisclosed sum.
In May 2000, Murdoch was appointed chairman and chief executive of News Corporation's ailing Asian satellite service
Star Television, which at the time was losing £100 million a year, and he moved to Hong Kong.
In February 2003, Murdoch 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 (upon appointment he was by far the youngest chief executive of a
FTSE 100
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
company).
Following the surprise resignation of his brother
Lachlan Murdoch from his executive positions at News Corporation in July 2005, James was viewed as his father's heir-apparent.
[James Robinso]
"James Murdoch hits out at BBC and regulators at Edinburgh TV festival"
''The Guardian'', 28 August 2009
![James Murdoch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/James_Murdoch.jpg)
In 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).
In a related announcement, Murdoch also took "direct responsibility for the strategic and operational development of
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
's television, newspaper, and related digital assets in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East." This included holdings such as
News International,
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...
,
STAR Group ltd and possibly other News Corporation related
assets
In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can ...
. He was based at
News International's headquarters in
Wapping
Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
,
East London.
In February 2009, Murdoch was appointed a non-executive director with the British pharmaceutical company
GlaxoSmithKline.
In August 2009, Murdoch delivered the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the
Edinburgh International Television Festival
The Edinburgh International Television Festival is an annual media event held in the United Kingdom each August which brings together delegates from the television and digital world to debate the major issues facing the industry.
The Festival ...
, in which he attacked the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
calling the BBC's expansion "chilling" and also said: "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."
officially responded, "We have to be careful not to reduce the whole of broadcasting to some simple economic transactions. The
...