James Murdoch
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is a British-American businessman.[1] He is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.[2]
For other people named James Murdoch, see James Murdoch (disambiguation).
James Murdoch
He was the chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia of News Corporation 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.[3][4]
Until April 2012,[5] 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 (satellite television in Italy), Sky Deutschland, and STAR TV (satellite television in Asia).
He was executive chairman of News International from 2007[6] until February 2012.[7] He previously held a non-executive chair at British Sky Broadcasting, 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.[8] 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 (the controlling shareholder of BSkyB) and served on the board of directors of News Datacom and of News Corporation.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
Early life[edit]
Murdoch was born at Wimbledon Hospital in Wimbledon, London, England.[12] He is the fourth child of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch's six children, and the third with Scottish-born journalist and author Anna Murdoch Mann (née Torv).[13]
As a youngster James was regarded as the brightest of the Murdoch children, but also considered something of a rebel.[9] 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.[9]
Murdoch attended Horace Mann School in New York City[9] and graduated in 1991. He then studied film and history at Harvard University, where he was a member of the Harvard Lampoon. He dropped out of university in 1995 without completing his studies.[9] 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.[9]
Phone hacking scandal and aftermath[edit]
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.[36]
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 10 November 2011. James maintained that until late in 2010 he was unaware that more than one "rogue reporter" from the News of the World tabloid had been involved in phone hacking.[37] This statement was challenged by the formal legal manager and editor for the newspaper, who claimed they had informed James of the "Transcript for Neville" email, a potential "smoking gun" indicating several of the newspaper's journalists may have been involved, during the settlement negotiations with Gorden Taylor in 2008 and alerted him to the potential liability if this document became public.
On 22 July 2011, Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, said that 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.[38]
In November 2011, British newspapers reported that Murdoch had resigned as chairman of News Group Newspapers, the holding company above The Sun, News of the World and Times Newspapers Ltd, itself owner of The Times and The Sunday Times. News Group Newspapers is the company subject to a series of lawsuits, all related to the phone hacking scandal. James Murdoch's resignation was also said to be related to the 12 October 2011 resignation of another Dow Jones executive, Andrew Langhoff, after a company whistleblower revealed an editorial scam and questionable circulation dealings at The Wall Street Journal Europe.[39][40]
In February 2012, News Corp announced that Murdoch would be stepping down as executive chairman of its British newspaper arm. The company said he would remain deputy chief operating officer of News Corp and focus on the company's international TV business,[41] including continued responsibility for BSkyB.[42] He stepped down also from the GlaxoSmithKline board.[43]
In April 2012, he stood down as chairman of BSkyB, but remained on the board.[44] He was replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson.
In September 2012, Murdoch was criticised by the British Office of Communications (Ofcom), which concluded that he "repeatedly fell short of the conduct to be expected of as a chief executive and chairman" and that his lack of action in relation to phone hacking was "difficult to comprehend and ill-judged".[45]
Personal life[edit]
Murdoch married Kathryn Hufschmid in 2000;[46] the couple have three children, Anneka (born 2003), Walter (born 2004), and Emerson (born 2008). Kathryn works for the Clinton Climate Initiative, a charitable foundation set up by the former U.S. president, Bill Clinton in 2006.[13] In 2013, the couple launched Quadrivium Foundation.[47] Murdoch also donated money to the Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit organization run by Chelsea, Bill, and Hillary Clinton.[48]
Murdoch was instrumental in the formation of Sky Procycling and is a keen cyclist himself.[49] He maintains an early morning gym routine and has a black belt in karate.[50][51]
In 2020, Murdoch and his wife each donated US$615,000 to the Biden campaign.[52]
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, along with his older full siblings and father, is eligible to reclaim it.