Rupert Murdoch hands Fox CEO job to son James

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

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Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox said on June 16 its board approved a shakeup that puts the 84-year-old tycoon’s son James in the chief executive job effective July 1.

The media-entertainment conglomerate’s board approved the plan in which the Australian-born magnate would step down as CEO and become co-executive chairman with his other son, Lachlan.

The succession plan, which was leaked last week by sources close to the company, allows Rupert Murdoch to ease out of the day-to-day management of the group, with his sons sharing many of those tasks.

The statement said the company’s corporate functions and its global television and film operations “will now jointly report to Lachlan and James Murdoch.”   

“It has always been our priority to ensure stable, long-term leadership for the company and these appointments achieve that goal,” Rupert Murdoch said in the statement.

The company has a range of film, broadcast and cable operations around the world and reaches some 1.8 billion people. It also has a 39 percent stake in the European satellite group Sky.

James Murdoch, 42, will hold the CEO job at the group, which owns the Fox studios in Hollywood, and Fox’s television operations in the U.S. and around the world.