詹姆斯?默多克有掌管21世紀?？怂沟馁Y本嗎？

????家族媒體王國把觸角伸到世界各個角落的時代行將結束，但有一家公司仍在延續傳奇。這就是市值750億美元的默多克傳媒帝國，它無所不包，既擁有哈珀柯林斯出版集團，也擁有英國《泰晤士報》，還擁有美國《華爾街日報》。和形形色色的王室一樣，帝國里最微小的權力變化也會被圍觀和剖析，最近的這次也不例外。

????據多家媒體報道，魯伯特?默多克將辭去21世紀?？怂故紫瘓绦泄僖宦殻^任者將是他的次子，42歲的詹姆斯?默多克。21世紀?？怂构驹切侣劶瘓F控股公司的一部分，2013年經拆分后成為獨立的上市公司。老默多克將繼續在該公司擔任聯席執行董事長，同時將出任聯席執行董事長的還有他的長子，43歲的拉克倫?默多克。

????不過，詹姆斯能否勝任CEO工作尚未可知。他目前擔任21世紀?？怂孤撓紫\營官，但算不上獨當一面，因為蔡斯?凱里也同時握有公司實權。迄今為止，他唯一真正獨力領導的經歷是在新聞集團陷入竊聽丑聞期間擔任英國控股公司負責人，而他的表現顯然毀譽參半。

????詹姆斯將出任CEO的消息傳出后，21世紀福克斯的股價應聲下跌，但隨后有所反彈。2013年原新聞集團拆分為新的“新聞集團”和21世紀?？怂购?，福克斯股價一直以來基本保持穩定。

????毫無疑問，老默多克總有一天是要傳位的。這位傳奇媒體大亨今年已經84歲，盡管他看起來依然精力充沛、斗志旺盛，還經常在Twitter上公布政治和社會活動日程，但很明顯他在考慮退居二線。

????隨著英國爆發竊聽丑聞，在這起事件里《世界新聞報》被指竊聽多位名人和政府官員電話，詹姆斯在新聞集團的未來一度不甚明朗。當時甚至有人猜測老默多克會找家族以外的人來掌管部分業務，或者把位子傳給他另一個兒子拉克倫?默多克。

????拉克倫一度是人們眼中的接班人，一些新聞集團內部人士甚至稱他為“王子”。但他在新聞集團擔任代理COO時跟老默多克發生了沖突，原因是拉克倫覺得自己的每一個決策都遭到父親和下屬放馬后炮。最終，拉克倫去了澳大利亞。去年，老默多克又把拉克倫勸了回來，讓他在拆分后的新聞集團和21世紀福克斯兩家公司擔任非執行董事長。

????老默多克則堅稱，他從未動搖過對詹姆斯的支持。他在接受《財富》雜志高級編輯帕特里夏?塞勒斯專訪時說，詹姆斯非常好地履行了管理職責。

????他告訴《財富》：“大家都在說倫敦的竊聽事件。但這都是詹姆斯擔任負責人之前的陳年舊事。他接手了星空傳媒并且[把該公司打造成]印度最大的電視臺，大概有八個頻道，而且給印度帶來了很大變化。他徹底改變了英國天空廣播集團，全面提高了標準，而且給新聞集團創造了巨大的價值?！?/p>

????盡管父親給了他如此高的贊譽，但目前的一大風險就是詹姆斯登上CEO寶座后，21世紀?？怂箍赡軙ァ氨O護人”蔡斯?凱里——許多人眼中他才是站在默多克身后的真正實力派。多家媒體都指出，凱里雖然會卸任，但仍將擔任老默多克的顧問（據CNN Money報道，福克斯新聞頻道董事長羅杰?艾爾斯也會繼續向老默多克匯報，而不是詹姆斯。）

????只要凱里繼續留下，哪怕只是當顧問，對穩定21世紀?？怂沟墓蓛r來說都可能很關鍵。投資銀行Needham and Co.高級分析師勞拉?馬丁對路透社表示：“近期最重要的問題就是凱里不能走?！彼€說：“如果老默多克向兒子交權意味著凱里將在短期內離職，我們認為這將對該公司股價產生不利影響?！?/p>

????目前，默多克家族在新聞集團和21世紀?？怂梗ㄊ兄导s670億美元）的持股比例都略高于10%，但他們還持有一股多票的B類股份，因而掌握著近40%的投票權。也就是說，對21世紀?？怂购托侣劶瘓F的未來以及公司董事會決議，否決權還是牢牢握在這家人內部。（財富中文網）

????譯者：Charlie

????審校：夏林

????The age of the globe-spanning, family-run media dynasty is almost over, but one shining example of this former Camelot fantasy remains: Namely, the Murdoch empire—a $75-billion behemoth that owns everything from book publisher HarperCollins to the Times of London and theWall Street Journal. As with any other form of royalty, even the tiniest power move is watched and dissected, and the latest is no exception.

????According to a number of reports, Rupert Murdoch will step down as CEO of 21st Century Fox—which was split off from the original News Corp. holding company as a separate public entity in 2013—and will hand the reins over to one of his sons, 42-year-old James. The elder Murdoch will apparently stay on as co-executive chairman, a role he will share with his other son Lachlan, 43.

????Whether James can handle the job of CEO remains to be seen, however. The only major role he has held single-handedly so far—as opposed to being co-chief operating officer of Fox, the position he holds at the moment, where he shares power with COO Chase Carey—was running News Corp.’s British holdings during the phone-hacking scandal, where his performance was seen as decidedly mixed.

????Fox shares tumbled on the news that he is set to take the top spot, although they later recovered somewhat. The company’s share price has been more or less flat since the split that created News Corp. and Fox in 2013.

????The fact that Murdoch senior would eventually hand over his power has never been in doubt, of course. The legendary media mogul is 84 years old, and while he is apparently still as feisty and combative as ever—and regularly uses Twitterto pursue his various political and social agendas—he is clearly thinking about succession.

????In the wake of the phone-hacking scandal in the U.K., in which The News of the World had been accused of hackingthe phones of a number of celebrities and members of government, James Murdoch’s future with his father’s company was unclear at best. There was even speculation that Murdoch senior might either pick someone outside the family to run some of his business operations, or hand the reins to his other son Lachlan.

????At one point, Lachlan was the one who was supposed to inherit control, and was even referred to by some inside the company as “the prince.” But he and his father clashed while he was deputy chief operating officer of the holding company, where he felt his every decision was being second-guessed by his father or his lieutenants, and he eventually moved to Australia. Rupert lured Lachlan back into the fold last year when he was made non-executive chairman of both News Corp. and Fox.

????For his part, Rupert has maintained that he never wavered in his support for James—telling Fortune’s Patricia Sellersin an exclusive interview that his son had performed his management duties admirably:

????“Everyone talks about hacking in London. That all happened long before James took charge,” Murdoch told Fortune. “He took STAR television and [made it] the No. 1 broadcaster in India, with about eight channels, and is making a big difference to that country. He completely changed BSkyB and lifted the bar there in every way—and added huge value to News Corp.”

????Despite this paternal praise, the big risk for Fox at this point is that the ascension of James could result in the company losing its “adult supervision”—that is, Chase Carey, whom many have seen as the real power behind the Murdoch throne. According to a number of reports, Carey will leave his official position, but will remain as an advisor to Rupert (according to CNN Money, Fox News chairman Roger Ailes will also continue to report to the elder Murdoch rather than James).

????Keeping Carey around, even in an advisory position, could be a critical factor for the stock price. Laura Martin of Needham and Co. told Reuters: “The most important thing in the immediate term is that Chase Carey not leave,” adding that “if the implication of Rupert handing the title to his son is that Chase Carey leaves in the near term, we would expect that to negatively impact the stock prices.”

????The Murdoch family currently owns a little over 10% of the shares in both News Corp. and Fox (which has a market value of about $67 billion), but control close to 40% of the voting power through their ownership of class B multiple-voting shares. That means they have effective veto power over the future of the company and the board of directors.