James Murdoch Biography

James Murdoch is Chief Executive Officer of 21st Century Fox, the world’s premier portfolio of cable, broadcast, film, pay-TV and satellite assets. Mr. Murdoch has held a succession of leadership roles over his nearly two-decade career with the Company, culminating in his appointment to CEO in 2015. Over that period, he has been a key driver of the Company’s domestic and international expansion, having previously served as Co-Chief Operating Officer, and, prior to that, as Chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia, as well as Chairman of BSkyB, Sky Deutschland, and Sky Italia, the businesses that now comprise the pan-European Sky group. His significant operational experience also includes tenures as CEO of both BSkyB and STAR, India’s number one entertainment broadcaster.

As 21st Century Fox’s Co-Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Murdoch had a broad purview across the Company’s global portfolio of businesses, and direct responsibility for its cable and broadcasting networks and properties, which reach more than 1.8 billion subscribers every day. From 2011 to 2014 he served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer and Chairman and CEO, International, and prior to that, Chairman and CEO, Europe and Asia since 2007.

Mr. Murdoch has played an integral role in a number of strategic transactions, including the separation of the former News Corp into two distinct Companies, the combination of the Endemol Shine Group joint venture, the acquisition of the YES Network, and, through the creation of Sky Deutschland and the combination of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia and BSkyB, the creation of the European entertainment leader Sky plc.

During his tenure as BSkyB’s Chief Executive Officer (of which 21st Century Fox owns 39.1%) from 2003 to 2007, and its Chairman from 2007 until 2012, the Company experienced transformative growth, amassing more than 10 million subscribers, and created a full-service residential media and telecommunications company.

Mr. Murdoch led 21st Century Fox’s partial acquisition of the former Premiere AG and from that the creation of Sky Deutschland, which was valued at €6.6 Billion upon its combination with BSkyB and Sky Italia in 2014. In addition, he led the restructuring of the Company’s European and Asian businesses between 2008 and 2010, including the separation of its Asian satellite television group, STAR, into India and ex-India operations, and the sale of the company’s Russian and Eastern European media holdings.

Mr. Murdoch became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of STAR in 2000 and led the company’s turnaround and by 2003, the company established itself as the premier content and broadcasting company in India, South Asia and Taiwan. Prior to joining STAR, Mr. Murdoch held a variety of corporate roles at News Corporation between the time he joined the Company in 1996 and 2000, primarily focused on digital businesses.

Before joining the Company, Mr. Murdoch co-founded and chaired Rawkus Entertainment, a seminal Hip Hop independent based in lower Manhattan.

Mr. Murdoch serves as a board member of 21st Century Fox, News Corp and is Chairman of the Board of Sky plc, Europe’s leading entertainment company. In addition, he is a non-executive director of Yankee Global Enterprises and Vice Media, and serves on the Boards of the Ghetto Film School, the Center for a New American Security and Dia Art Foundation.

He and his wife Kathryn founded their family foundation, Quadrivium, in 2014. Quadrivium supports a variety of initiatives involving natural resources, science, civic life, childhood health, and equal opportunity.

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