Rumors that James Murdoch is next in line to his father’s News Corp. throne have followed the 37-year-old for years. But it’s not as though you get a $32.8 billion media empire just handed to you like when you dropped out of Harvard, but wanted to start a hip-hop label with your buddies from Horace Mann. Analysts say plans for who will succeed 79-year-old Rupert as CEO of News Corp. have been narrowed down to either James, who has been working for the company for fourteen years, or possibly chief operating officer Chase Carey, if the decision has to be made quickly. Hamilton Faber, an analyst with London- based Atlantic Equities, told Bloomberg, “James Murdoch looks like he’s being particularly groomed to be the successor. But it appears that he has to kind of prove himself.” Perhaps to demonstrate that he’s willing to give himself over to the dark side and the Empire, James had a limited edition life-size replica of Darth Vader stationed outside his London office before they moved this month.
Murdoch Son Also Rises as Shareholders Study CEO Succession [Bloomberg]
Related: The Raging Septuagenarian [NYM]
