Yesterday, opposition came from a major pension fund, which called on BSkyB to explain its CEO succession plan in the midst of speculation that chairman Rupert Murdoch's youngest son was a shoo-in for the job, following the news earlier this week that Tony Ball is to stand down.
The National Association of Pension Funds, which represents around a fifth of the London stock market, said it wanted recognition that the appointment of a new CEO was not a product of nepotism. The pension body said it wanted a meeting with BSkyB in the next two weeks.
Despite reports playing down the chances of James Murdoch getting Ball's job, it has not dampened speculation, which has if anything gained momentum as his brother Lachlan unsurprisingly gave him a fulsome reference.
Lachlan, who is deputy chief operating officer of News Corp, was speaking at the Australia Germany Business Conference in Sydney, and although he dodged the question directly as to whether his brother would take over, he did sing his praises.
"The only thing I can say about James is he has had a fantastic and successful career in pay television. What people tend to forget is Star Television has reached break-even and entered profitability, which is a great milestone," Lachlan said.
He added that while he has no role to play in the succession decision, he was confident that "the board of BSkyB will examine many options".
Lord St John of Fawsley, the non-executive director heading up the search for a new CEO, said today that he was under no pressure from Murdoch Snr to appoint James. He also said that James would have to "work harder" than any other candidate to prove himself.
Despite being only 30, James has already had top-level experience running a satellite company as CEO of News Corp's Star TV business in Asia, a position he has held since 2000.
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