What is James Murdoch's Net Worth?
James Murdoch is an English businessman who has a net worth of $2 billion. James Murdoch is the fourth of six children born to entertainment mogul Rupert Murdoch. He has held a number of major executive positions, including CEO of 21st Century Fox, CEO and chairman of BSkyB, and multiple roles within his father's News Corporation. In 2011, Murdoch was implicated in the News International phone hacking scandal to gather information about celebrities.
In 2018 the Murdoch family sold the majority of its assets to Walt Disney for $71.3 billion. The deal made each Murdoch child a multi-billionaire. In the wake of the deal, Rupert named James' brother Lachlan head of the remaining Fox Corporation. A role was not carved out for James who soon started his own investment firm called Lupa Systems.
James has long been rumored to be the lone non-conservative in an extremely conservative family. He had been publicly critical of President Donald Trump and some of Fox News' content. In the run-up to the 2020 Presidential election, James donated $1 million to a fund raising committee for Joe Biden.
On July 31, 2020 James submitted his resignation as a Board Member of News Corp. His resignation letter stated:
"My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company's news outlets and certain other strategic decisions."
He had already previously stepped down from the Fox Corporation, which oversees the family's television station assets.
Early Life
James Murdoch was born on December 13, 1972 in London, England as the fourth child of billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and the third child of journalist and novelist Anna Torv. As a teen, he went to Horace Mann School in the Bronx borough of New York City. Following his graduation in 1991, Murdoch enrolled at Harvard University, where he studied film and history. However, he dropped out in 1995.
Career Beginnings
Murdoch made his first big business investment in 1995 when he put up money to back the hip hop record label Rawkus Records, which was established by his school friends Jarret Myer and Brian Bater. In 1996, Murdoch purchased a majority of the label. That year, he also became chairman of the Australian recording and publishing company Festival Records, and joined his father's mass-media company News Corporation. Murdoch was put in charge of the latter's Internet operations. Meanwhile, he established a new management team at Festival Records, and took a controlling share of Mushroom Records a little later to create the merger Festival Mushroom Records. The new label struggled, however, and was eventually shuttered in 2005.
BSkyB
In 2003, Murdoch became the CEO of the British broadcaster and telecommunications company BSkyB. This appointment was met with many accusations of nepotism, as the company is partially owned by Murdoch's father's News Corporation. In late 2007, Murdoch stepped down as CEO and became non-executive chairman of BSkyB.
Other Positions
Murdoch has had multiple different roles at News Corporation. In 2000, he became chairman and CEO of the company's floundering Asian satellite service Star Television. Later in the decade, he was granted more power when he took over development of News Corporation's assets in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The assets included publisher News International and Italian satellite channel Sky Italia. Murdoch also served as executive vice president of New Corporation for a while, and served on its board of directors as well.
Among his many other notable positions, Murdoch became a non-executive director of the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline in 2009. From 2015 to 2019, he served as the CEO of 21st Century Fox. During that time, he also became the chairman of the UK's subscription broadcaster Sky. Murdoch left 21st Century Fox when the company was acquired by the Walt Disney Company, and left Sky when it was taken over by Comcast. In the summer of 2020, he resigned from the board of directors of News Corporation on account of editorial disagreements.
BskyB/Tim Anderson/Getty Images
News International Phone Hacking Scandal
In 2011, Murdoch was implicated in the News International phone hacking scandal. The scandal involved a number of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, particularly News of the World; the paper's employees were found to have engaged in rampant phone hacking, police extortion, and wielding unethical influence while pursuing stories. In response to the disclosure of this information and the subsequent public outcry, News of the World was shuttered by Murdoch. Later, he resigned as chairman of News Group Newspapers, the holding company of several prominent British papers. In early 2012, Murdoch stepped down as executive chairman of News Corporation's British newspaper division. The scandal continued to exert its consequences, as Murdoch next stepped down as chairman of BSkyB; however, he did remain a member of the board. He went on to face stern admonishment from the UK Parliament and the British Office of Communications for his malfeasance.
Personal Life
Murdoch wed his wife Kathryn Hufschmid in 2000. Together, they have three children named Anneka, Walter, and Emerson. Hufschmid works for Bill Clinton's charitable foundation the Clinton Climate Initiative; additionally, she established the Quadrivium Foundation with Murdoch.
Murdoch is an athletic individual. He likes to cycle, and played a key role in the creation of the British professional cycling team Team Sky, now known as the Ineos Grenadiers. In 2012, Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins became the first-ever British cyclist to win the Tour de France; further wins for Britain came in 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017, all accomplished by Sky's Chris Froome. Among his other sporting endeavors, Murdoch has a black belt in karate.
