Murdoch's rising son

James Murdoch, the youngest son of media mogul Rupert, has had to do his growing up in public. His first forays into business were unmitigated disasters and he lost a small fortune dabbling in internet ventures and a hip hop record label with his daddy's money after dropping out of college.

After a two-year stint at Star TV in Asia - Murdoch's bridgehead into the Chinese market - he has effected a remarkable rehabilitation to the extent that News Corp insiders are now tipping James as "the one to watch" in the race to succeed Rupert as head of News Corp, the world's third biggest media company.

But the road to recognition within Murdoch's corporate empire has been rocky. James joined the family business sooner than he had expected to. Eager to indulge his musical interests as well as prove his business savvy outside his father's realm, he dropped out of Harvard in 1994 and started Rawkus Entertainment, a hip-hop music label.

Despite garnering some critical acclaim for its artists, the loss making enterprise soon had to be bailed out by Mr Murdoch senior and News Corp bought the company in 1996.

Soon after News Corp bought Rawkus, Mr. Murdoch left the label and moved across into the main News Corp family to restructure its music division and to take over its struggling and dispersed new media properties.

Fox Sports Online, Fox News Online, and TV Guide Entertainment Network were united in 1997 as NADP, and James and his team set about creating online products that could be supported by sophisticated advertising.

But James was said to find it hard to whip up much enthusiasm for the web inside News Corp, particularly when his own father wasn't altogether sold on the dotcom revolution. News Corp had came late to the dotcom party, wasn't quite sure whether to lead or to follow and in the event wasted hundreds of millions trying to catch up.

So not surprisingly, it was James, who by 1998 was heading up the company's new media operations worldwide, who took the flak when the crash came. Nevertheless, Rupert thought he had seen enough nascent business ability to hand his youngest son his own TV network.

In May 2000, at the age of 28, James was made chairman of the huge, but loss making, Star TV operation in Asia. He was initially distrusted but has earned his spurs by growing the company throughout the region and delivering its first profit.

He has particularly impressed his father with his skilful handling of the long running charm offensive to launch Star into China. In the last 18 months he has signed a series of distribution and programming deals establishing a bridgehead for the company into China.

In March 2001 James even out-ingratiated his father, denouncing Falun Gong at a time when thousands of members of the banned religious sect were in prison and at least 100 were reported to have died in detention as a result of neglect or torture.

The younger Murdoch also criticised the Hong Kong and western press for painting such a negative portrayal of China. "I think these destabilising forces today are very, very dangerous for the Chinese government," he told an audience of businessmen in Los Angeles.

His appointment as a non-executive director at BSkyB will be viewed by ardent Murdoch watchers as the clearest sign yet that James is moving up in the pecking order, as Rupert attempts to give him wide experience of the various arms of his empire.

BSkyB, in which Murdoch has a 36% stake, has long been one of the jewels in the News Corp crown. Over the past 10 years it has built an unrivalled position in pay TV in the UK and is poised to reap huge rewards from its investment in converting its customers to digital technology.

Until recently it was assumed that eldest son Lachlan Murdoch would be handed the News Corp reins when his father finally decides to step down as head of the company.

The 31-year-old was dubbed "first among equals" by his father. But all the recent signs are that Rupert, who last week revealed that he was to have his sixth child at the age of 71, has had a change of heart.

Today's news that James, 30, has been appointed a non-executive director on the BSkyB board adds credence to the theory that he plans to share power between the two sons.

Lachlan, who is publisher of the New York Post and third in command at News Corp, would take charge of the publishing side of the business - which includes the Sun and the Times in the UK as well as newspapers in Australia and the US - while James would be given control of the broadcasting empire.

Rupert Murdoch has admitted in the past that he has set his sons against one another as he assesses their abilities.

"Lachlan... has great leadership abilities. He has shown it in Australia. James has got great business abilities. He has done a fantastic job down there [in Asia]. He has not really had the love or closeness of newspapers that Lachlan has. He has not had that same experience yet, but there is plenty of time," said Mr Murdoch in an interview last year.

"I think they are very close and they will get on extremely well. It [the future leadership] will be more shared than it seems at the moment," he added.