News Corp. Succession Story Makes Rounds (Again); Company Says James Murdoch Staying At BSkyB

A bit of a ruckus going on about Rupert Murdoch’s succession plans for News Corp. following a UK newspaper report that his son James was leaving his CEO post at News Corp.-controlled BSkyB for a top job with the larger company. The Financial Mail wrote that the younger Murdoch would be replaced by Tom Mockridge, head of Sky Italia. BSkyB told the paper it wouldn’t comment on speculation. That wasn’t enough to keep the unattributed story from making the rounds. UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff picked it up seeing the purported moves as logical, then sent a note based on a conversation with someone at News Corp. clarifying that there is no truth to the rumor: the younger Murdoch and Mockridge are staying put “for the foreseeable future.” The Daily Telegraph reported that the speculation “was dismissed as false last night by sources close to the Murdoch family.”
Translation: James Murdoch is the logical family successor to Rupert given his brother Lachlan’s move away from News Corp. management (not necessarily the logical successor overall, mind you) but nothing is happening any time soon.
Daily Telegraph: “James Murdoch himself countered such succession rumours in a recent BBC Radio Five Live interview with The Daily Telegraph’s editor-at-large Jeff Randall when he said he was ‘more than happy’ with his current job. … When his son was appointed head of the pay TV provider, Rupert Murdoch was asked if James was a possible successor to him at News Corp. He replied that the time to talk about such a move would be ‘after five years.'”

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