Twenty-First Century Fox Inc: 'Succession Is On Our Agenda'

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc

dipped Thursday on at least two, separate reports that 84-year-old Rupert Murdoch will soon step down as chief executive. "The matter of succession is on the agenda at our upcoming, regularly scheduled board meeting," Fox said in a statement Thursday to Bloomberg, without elaborating. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-11/rupert-murdoch-said-to-hand-fox-ceo-title-to-son-james Murdoch's son James, 42, will be named as successor, according to reports by CNBC and Bloomberg Thursday, each of which independently cited unidentified sources familiar with the matter. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102730161 James' brother, the 43-year-old Lachlan. would become co-chairman of Fox, according to the reports A Murdoch family trust controls about 39 percent of the voting shares of Fox as well as News Corp.

, which owns The Wall Street Journal, among other propeties. Fox, which was split off from News Corp. in 2013. Potential changes in Murdoch's current role as chairman of News Corp. weren't mentioned by either report. Reuters on Thursday said top investors have described James Murdoch as curious and a risk taker like his father, but less sentimental about certain assets than his father and more enthusiastic about courting shareholders. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/11/us-twenty-first-fox-murdoch-idUSKBN0OR1T820150611 James was further described as a Harvard University dropout, "who spent his early career as a cartoonist and co-founder of hip hop label Rawkus Records, which was bought by News Corp." Fox changed hands at $32.65, of $0.31 cents recently, while News Corp. traded at $14.26, down $0.03 cents.