Heir apparent: Is James Murdoch a chip off the old block?

This post is one of several on business heirs apparent. Let us know in the comments whether you think James Murdoch should take up the reigns of News Corp., and be sure to check out the other heir apparent posts.

James Murdoch seems the opposite of his father, media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The younger Murdoch is described in media reports as a low-key family man who isn't much of a schmoozer. Rupert Murdoch loves to court politicians, something that doesn't seem to interest James. The fourth Murdoch child, though, did sow his wild oats when he was younger, dropping out of Harvard and founding a hip-hop music label that was later acquired by News Corp. (NYSE: NWS).

But James Murdoch got rid of the eyebrow stud and got serious about business. Sure, Rupert Murdoch's many detractors screamed "nepotism" when the old man named him to run the News Corp's British Sky Broadcasting business. Eventually, though, James Murdoch won them over by doing a bang-up job.

"He won over his critics in the city by hitting ambitious targets, increasing the number of Sky subscribers by more than one million, but he also eschewed his father's abrasive approach, saying early on that the company would be 'a partner not a pariah' to its rivals," according to The U.K,'s Observer newspaper.