Rupert Murdoch Stepping Aside As Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) CEO

Rupert Murdoch, 84 anni, CEO of 21st Century Fox Inc, (NASDAQ:FOX) is preparing to step down and name son James as successor at the entertainment conglomerate behind Fox News and the studio that makes movies.

Mr. Murdoch would stay on as Chairman, James Murdoch, 42 anni, would work in tandem with his brother Lachlan in partnership.

The move is described a “title change,” with the Mr. Murdoch having the final say in whatever happens at Fox.

It is unclear whether the reorganization will take place this year or at the start of Y 2016. Fox said in a statement that “the matter of succession is on the agenda at our upcoming, regularly scheduled board meeting.”

In addition, Fox COO Chase Carey will also step down and take an “undefined role as an adviser at the company.”

“The most important thing in the immediate term is that Chase Carey not leave. Wall Street really cares about Chase Carey running this business. So 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,” according to a Key analyst.

Mr. Carey’s stepping aside as COO will leave the very top of the organization solely in the hands of Murdoch’s for the 1st time.

James is expected to have the primary role running Fox, while Lachlan will have a broader strategic role.

As of April, the Murdoch’s owned 39% of voting shares in Fox and News Corp., the company that operates newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and book publisher HarperCollins, through a family trust. Fox split from News Corp. in Y 2013.

Symbol	Last Trade	Date	Change	Open	High	Low	Volume
NASDAQ:FOX	32.65	11 Jun-2015	-0.20	32.88	33.08	32.63	807,425

HeffX-LTN Analysis for FOX:	Overall	Short	Intermediate	Long
HeffX-LTN Analysis for FOX:	Neutral (-0.21)	Neutral (-0.23)	Neutral (-0.23)	Neutral (-0.18)