Major News Corp backer supports James Murdoch

Fri Jan 22 2010, 17:20 PM UTC

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia will back James Murdoch as successor at News Corp when Rupert Murdoch decides to retire. The prince's Kingdom Holdings company is the largest News Corp shareholder outside of the Murdoch family, with 56m shares and a 7% stake.  

"If he [Rupert Murdoch] doesn't appoint him, I'll be the first one to nominate him to be the successor of Rupert Murdoch, God forbid if something happens to him," says Prince Alwaleed. "I have full confidence in him, full trust in him, and he's capable. He's really Rupert Murdoch in the making, and he's almost there now." 

Although James Murdoch is the chairman and chief executive of News Corp's Europe and Asia divisions he still is not guaranteed the top job once his father retires. Rupert Murdoch has said in public the choice of his successor is not a foregone conclusion. 

Eldest brother Lachlan Murdoch was viewed as the most likely successor until he resigned as News Corp's deputy COO in 2005. Last year he even sold-off his remaining non-voting stake in the company to fund his own media investments. 

Prince Alwaleed's statement comes as he pursues a deeper alliance with News Corp. Last week he met with Rupert Murdoch to discuss "economic and investment issues, especially in the media sector [and a] future potential alliance with News Corp". 

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