默多克或讓次子接任21世紀福克斯CEO

Rupert Murdoch is planning to hand over the job of chief executive at the media conglomerate 21st Century Fox to his son James, multiple people briefed on the plans said on Thursday.

幾名知情人士在週四表示，魯伯特·默多克(Rupert Murdoch)計劃將傳媒集團21世紀福克斯公司(21st Century Fox)首席執行官的職位讓與兒子詹姆斯(James)。

James Murdoch is expected to take over as chief executive, and his 84-year-old father will remain at the company as executive chairman. Another son, Lachlan, is moving from Australia to Los Angeles to become co-executive chairman, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

詹姆斯·默多克接任首席執行官一職後，他84歲的父親將繼續留在公司，擔任執行董事長的職務。據不具名的知情人士透露，老默多克的另一個兒子拉克倫(Lachlan)準備從澳大利亞移居洛杉磯，擔任執行聯席董事長。

The exact timing for the changes is unclear, but it is said to be part of Mr. Murdoch’s long-term succession planning with the board. The changes are expected to be discussed at a board meeting next week, one person said.

目前尚不清楚這些職務變動的確切時間，但據稱，這是默多克與董事會進行的長期接班人計劃的一部分。一名知情人士表示，公司將在下週的董事會議上討論此事。

The elder Mr. Murdoch is expected to continue to provide broad strategic oversight for the company and come into the office regularly, one person said. He is not ill, and he still appears to be energized, this person added. The Murdoch family trust controls almost 40 percent of the voting shares of both 21st Century Fox and News Corporation, and Rupert Murdoch has more rights in the trust than his children.

根據一名知情人士的說法，老默多克將會繼續負責公司的宏觀戰略，並會經常出現在辦公室裏。這名人士還表示，他沒有生病，看起來依舊精力充沛。默多克家族的信託基金控制了21世紀福克斯公司和新聞集團(News Corporation)將近40%擁有表決權的股份，而魯伯特·默多克在該基金中比他的子女擁有更多的權利。

As part of the reorganization, Chase Carey will step down from his role as chief operating officer at Fox and work as an adviser to the company. Mr. Carey, who has worked as the second-highest executive at Fox since 2009 and is widely respected on Wall Street, played an integral role in the succession plans, one person said. To ease the transition, he built flexibility into his contract with Fox last year when he agreed to a two-year contract extension through June 30, 2016.

作爲重組計劃的一部分，蔡斯· 凱里(Chase Carey)將卸任福克斯首席運營官，改任公司的顧問。凱里從2009年開始擔任福克斯的二把手，備受華爾街推崇。一名知情人士表示，他在接班人計劃中扮演不可或缺的角色。爲了過渡順利，去年與福克斯簽訂續約兩年至2016年6月30日的合同時，他在其中融入了靈活性。

People with knowledge of the family say that James and Lachlan Murdoch have a good relationship. But while the move appears to signal that James will take control of the company, one person knowledgeable about the family dynamics, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the announcement had not completely clarified the situation. The person said that tension could still arise over which of them would truly succeed their father, and even perhaps which will end up at 21st Century Fox, a lucrative business, and which at News Corporation, which faces the same powerful headwinds as other traditional journalism companies.

瞭解默多克家族的人表示，詹姆斯和哥哥拉克倫關係良好。不過，雖然接班安排似乎說明詹姆斯將執掌福克斯，但一名知曉默多克家族動向的不具名人士稱，這一消息並沒有完全化解不確定性。此人表示，一些問題可能仍會引發二人關係的緊張，比如兄弟當中誰能真正接替父親？或者是誰將掌管21世紀福克斯公司，誰又將掌管新聞集團？前者利潤豐厚，後者則跟其他傳統新聞公司一樣，面臨強大的阻力。

Thursday’s developments do not directly concern News Corp., the other half of the Murdoch empire, which owns The Wall Street Journal and a portfolio of British newspapers. The two companies separated in 2013. But the elevation of James Murdoch, 42, will most likely raise concerns that when his father finally steps aside completely, the print businesses may come under more skeptical scrutiny.

週四的進展沒有直接涉及新聞集團。擁有《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)和一系列英國報刊的新聞集團是默多克帝國的另一半。這兩家公司於2013年拆分。不過，42歲的詹姆斯·默多克的高升很可能會引發擔憂：當他的父親最終完全退出的時候，公司的傳統報刊業務可能會受到更多懷疑性的審視。

The moves, first reported on Thursday by CNBC, were largely expected on Wall Street, and some analysts called James Murdoch an experienced executive who has vision for where the fast-changing world of media is headed. “James didn’t just graduate from high school,” said David Bank, a media analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “He is a pretty seasoned global media executive. His strength comes out in exactly the environment we face today and exactly the changes that we face in the ecosystem.”

CNBC於週四首先爆出了相關新聞。這些舉動大體上在華爾街的意料之中。一些分析人士稱詹姆斯·默多克是一名經驗豐富的高管，對快速變化的媒體領域的發展趨勢有着自己的見解。“詹姆斯不是剛從高中畢業的學生，”加拿大皇家銀行資本市場(RBC Capital Markets)的媒體分析師戴維·班克(David Bank)說。“他是一名相當老練的全球媒體高管。 在我們今天面臨的環境及我們在這個生態系統面臨的變革中，他的優勢恰恰能顯現出來。”

No imminent changes are expected at Fox News, which is a big revenue driver and whose chief, Roger Ailes, has in the past conflicted with Lachlan Murdoch. Mr. Ailes, president of Fox News, will continue to report to Rupert Murdoch, one person briefed on the plans said.

福克斯新聞臺(Fox News)不會立即出現人員變動。這家電視臺是公司的一個重要收入來源，其負責人羅傑·艾爾斯(Roger Ailes)過去曾與拉克倫·默多克發生衝突。一名知情人士表示，身爲福克斯新聞臺董事長的艾爾斯將繼續向老默多克彙報工作。

The company, for its part, said it had nothing to announce. “The matter of succession is on the agenda at our upcoming, regularly scheduled board meeting,” Nathaniel Brown, a Fox spokesman, said in a statement.

福克斯公司本身表示沒有任何消息要宣佈。公司發言人納撒尼爾·布朗(Nathaniel Brown)在聲明中稱，“接班一事包括在我們即將召開的定期董事會議的議程之中。”

The moves were the latest in a series of incremental steps by Mr. Murdoch to ensure that his companies — publicly traded, with a combined market capitalization of nearly $80 billion — are handed over to his children. It was a prospect that seemed remote, if not impossible, a few years ago, when James had been tainted by the phone hacking scandal that engulfed the company while he oversaw the British businesses, and Lachlan showed little interest in returning permanently from his native Australia to the corporate boardrooms of Britain and the United States.

爲了確保名下的多家企業——均已上市，總市值將近800億美元（約合5000億元人民幣）——能移交到自己的下一代手中，默多克逐步採取了一系列漸進措施，而前述舉動是其中最新的一步。就在幾年前，這種情形即便不是完全不可能，也可謂遙不可及。當時，分管英國業務的詹姆斯因爲使公司陷入困境的電話監聽醜聞而聲名受損，拉克倫則顯得對離開澳大利亞本土、永久地返回英國和美國的董事會沒有多少興趣。

James, in particular, seemed to have a difficult path to the top ranks of the company after being battered throughout the hacking crisis that erupted in 2011. Along with his father, he was called before Parliament to answer grueling questions and discuss embarrassing emails related to the scandal. James soon departed London for New York in an effort, those close to him said, to distance himself from the fallout and rebuild his reputation.

在2011年爆發的監聽危機的整個過程中，詹姆斯受到嚴重打擊，這令他通往公司最高層的道路顯得尤爲艱難。他曾與父親一道被英國議會傳喚，回答與這起醜聞相關的嚴厲問題，並討論令人難堪的電子郵件。與詹姆斯關係密切的人表示，爲了遠離這件事的影響、重建聲譽，他很快便離開倫敦，去了紐約。

Lachlan Murdoch decided in 2005 to leave his position as chief operating officer of News Corp., which at the time encompassed all of Rupert Murdoch’s holdings, after clashes with other executives. It was viewed, perhaps by all but his father, as a rejection of the leadership role for which he was being groomed.

2005年，在與其他高管發生衝突之後，拉克倫·默多克決定辭去新聞集團首席運營官的職務。當時的新聞集團囊括了魯伯特·默多克的所有控股公司。或許在所有人——除了他父親——看來，這件事都說明他不願意擔任領導角色，儘管他一直在被這樣栽培。

But the elder Mr. Murdoch had worked over the years to bring Lachlan back to the businesses, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Last year the elder Mr. Murdoch named him nonexecutive co-chairman of News Corp. and 21st Century Fox, while elevating James to co-chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox.

不過兩名知情人士稱，多年來，默多克一直試圖讓拉克倫重返家族生意。去年，他任命拉克倫爲新聞集團和21世紀福克斯公司的非執行聯席董事長，詹姆斯則被任命爲21世紀福克斯公司的聯席首席運營官。

James Murdoch, long seen as the most likely heir to his father, dropped out of Harvard in 1995 to start an independent music label, Rawkus Records. He subsequently moved to the family business and was widely praised for turning British Sky Broadcasting, the satellite television company, into a broader communications company.

長期以來，人們一直認爲詹姆斯·默多克最有可能成爲父親的接班人。1995年，他從哈佛輟學，創建了獨立音樂廠牌勞庫斯唱片(Rawkus Records)。隨後，他開始參與家族生意，並且因爲把經營衛星電視業務的英國天空廣播公司(British Sky Broadcasting)變成一家涉獵更廣泛的電信企業而受到了廣泛讚揚。

Some raised eyebrows when, in his 30s, he was elevated to run News Corp.’s international businesses. And their misgivings seemed justified when he became embroiled in the hacking scandal.

不到四十歲的時候，他被提升爲新聞集團國際業務的負責人，引發了一些不滿。當他因爲監聽醜聞而受到牽連時，這些人的疑慮似乎得到了證實。

He appreciated his brother’s support during that scandal, two people with knowledge of their relationship said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and had encouraged Lachlan to return to the fold.

瞭解兄弟二人關係的兩名不具名人士表示，詹姆斯對哥哥拉克倫在醜聞事件期間的支持心懷感激，一直鼓勵他回來執事。

James Murdoch has long been focused on assets other than the print holdings that his father holds so dear. He encouraged Rupert Murdoch to take a small stake in Vice, a company that has grown dominant in online video. And he was often seen on 21st Century Fox’s Century City lot in California.

與父親異常重視傳統報業不同，詹姆斯·默多克一直關注的是其他資產。他鼓勵魯伯特·默多克收購了Vice的一小部分股份——這家公司已逐漸成爲網絡視頻市場上的領頭羊。人們還經常可以在21世紀福克斯公司在加州世紀城的電影工作室看到他。

Rupert and James Murdoch will be based in New York. Lachlan Murdoch will be based in Los Angeles.

默多克和詹姆斯二人將常駐紐約工作，而拉克倫則將待在洛杉磯。