James Murdoch: From Harvard dropout to News Corp heir

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - When James Murdoch dropped out of Harvard in 1995 to start a hip-hop record label, few would have seen him overtaking his elder brother Lachlan to become heir apparent to their father's media empire.

Just 12 years later however he is to take control of News Corp.'s (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Asian and European operations in a move that appears to put him bang in line to one day replace his media mogul father Rupert.

News Corp wields influence from Hollywood to Hong Kong and owns Britain's mass-selling Sun tabloid, film studio 20th Century Fox, television network Star TV, publisher Harper Collins and Internet properties such as MySpace. It is also buying the Wall Street Journal.

And the early signs for James Murdoch, 34, who is married and lives in London, are encouraging.

His appointment as chief executive of BSkyB (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) in 2003 was initially met with accusations of nepotism, but he has since impressed analysts and investors by broadening the company from a pure pay-TV offering to include broadband and telephony.

Whether he can match the consummate dealmaking of his father in the long term is yet to be seen, but he has already shown hints of sharing the 76-year-old's approach to business.

During his time at Sky, the company lured 1.7 million customers with its premium content, helping increase revenue by 40 percent, and introduced a broadband service to increase customer loyalty.

His position on climate change -- moving BSkyB to be carbon neutral -- also surprised many.