So has Rupert Murdoch announced his heir apparent? The big piece in the media and corporate jigsaw is that Murdoch's son James Murdoch has been promoted to the newly created position of deputy chief operating officer at News Corp. All this raises speculation that James will succeed his father who just turned 80.
This is important, not only because time is ticking away for Rupert. He is bringing James, 38, to New York from London and handing him more responsibilities. In the newly created role, James will develop strategy and build new franchises, while continuing to report to COO Chase Carey. The appointment may strengthen the younger Murdoch's position as the leading contender to succeed his father at the helm of News Corp., which owns the Fox Television Network, the Wall Street Journal and Twentieth Century Fox film studio. James has worked at the company for 15 years and has run many pieces of the business, including a group that accounts for about 20 percent of the company's revenue. That he is running the international business from the US is immaterial; even with the re-entry of Elizabeth into the family company, it can only be a matter of time before he becomes chief executive to his father's chairman.
There is one problem here: James Murdoch found himself in the midst of a royal scandal after reporters with the company's tabloid News Of The World hacked into the phones of British royals. That case drew the attention of Scotland Yard. He oversaw the company's handling of the matter where a news reporter and private investigator were accused of engaging in illegal activity to get scoops and he approved a $1 million settlement paid to one of the victims.
As Ian Burrell writes in The Independent, this is also a piece of damage control by the senior Murdoch. "One source last night compared James's relocation to "an SAS operation to remove a hostage from a vulnerable situation," Burrell writes.
And will it work? Can James really step into his father's shoes? Commentator Steve Bartholomeusz makes the point that James has no experience running the US operations and that could cause problems with shareholders. "Without some record of success in the US there could well be resistance from non-family shareholders – and News Corp senior management – to a future attempt to impose him on the business as chief executive," he writes.
So will James succeed Rupert? It's not in the bag. The News Corp empire is just as likely to implode once Rupert snaps the mortal coil. There is still no clear heir apparent because no one there is across the complete empire. Watch this space.
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