media empires

The Murdoch family likely had a considerable amount of discussion and debate about the succession of brothers James and Lachlan Murdoch to the helm of 21st Century Fox, a US family business expert says, and did well to keep those discussions contained.

Earlier this month it was revealed that Rupert Murdoch was standing back as chief executive of the movie and entertainment studio, appointing his sons to top positions within the company, with James becoming chief executive.

As an eleventh-gen family member and long-time head of the M DuMont Schauberg Group, Alfred Neven DuMont was one of the Germany's most important post-war newspaper publishers.

Indeed the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, was among those to offer words of praise at his 80th birthday party, in 2007. Her attendance was unsurprising given that Neven DuMont was chairman of a company that produced newspapers read by millions of Germans each day.

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has become the largest shareholder in fourth-generation family business The New York Times Company, increasing his stake to nearly 17%, but the Sulzberger family will retain control of the media giant through its dual-class share structure.

It follows a bumpy year for the 164-year-old company, in which it continued to find its feet in the digital era, and also saw a mishandled staff changes at the senior editorial level.

The daughter-in-law of Advance Publications president Donald Newhouse has been promoted president of global development at its magazine company Conde Nast International.

The appointment answers speculation about what role she would take in the family empire after trade publications division Fairchild Fashion Media, where she had been president and chief executive since 2010, was sold to Penske Media Corporation in August for $100 million.