Murdoch shifts key man to Net venture
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Your support makes all the difference.MEDIA TYCOON Rupert Murdoch's belated decision to move into cyberspace shifted up another gear over the weekend as one of News Corp's key European executives was dispatched to epartners, the vehicle created in April to build a business presence in the Internet sector.
Bruce McWilliam, general counsel of News International and a key adviser to Mr Murdoch on European corporate strategy, will move to epartners as a partner. Mr McWilliam will join outgoing BSkyB chief executive Mark Booth, who is shortly to become chief executive of epartners.
The appointment coincides with epartners' first equity investment, the purchase of a minority stake for an undisclosed amount in WR Hambrecht & Co, a San Francisco-based investment bank that specialises in software and Internet start-ups. The bank is headed by Bill Hambrecht, a Silicon Valley legend involved in the creation of numerous technology companies over the past two decades.
The stake in Hambrecht, which includes a seat on the investment bank's board of directors, will give News Corp a window on new companies and trends in the US technology sector. "We see a lot of companies early on in their life," a Hambrecht spokeswoman said.
Through Hambrecht, epartners could identify and fund technology companies that might ultimately develop software or digital-processing technologies useful to the global media group's broadcasting and publishing operations.
News Corp has been slow to grasp the significance of the Internet revolution, and has trailed other media groups in investing in the sector.
Mr Booth said: "We are impressed with the WR Hambrecht & Co strategy of leveraging technology to create a truly open marketplace."
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