Jim Breyer, a partner of venture capital firm Accel Partners, has been nominated for election to the board of directors of media conglomerate News Corporation, the company announced this morning.
Breyer will stand for election at News Corp’s annual meeting of stockholders on October 21, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The company also said that directors Kenneth E. Cowley and Thomas J. Perkins – yes, that would be the founding partner of VC firm and Accel Partners rival Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers – will step down from the board afterwards.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corporation, commented on Breyer’s nomination thusly:
“Jim has a remarkable track record in the investment community and his background in media and technology will enable him to make significant contributions to News Corporation’s Board.”
Breyer is a lead investor/director in companies like Facebook, UberMedia, Brightcove, Prosper, Vostu, Legendary Pictures and Etsy. He also sits on the boards of directors of Wal-Mart and Dell.
In April 2011, Forbes published its Midas List of top ten investors and ranked Breyer el numero uno.
His high-profile role at Facebook deserves to be put in the spotlight here, because News Corporation famously acquired once-rival MySpace for $580 million in 2005, only to sell it a few months ago for a reported $35 million.
News Corp is, of course, a massive, diversified and global media company, with operations in a plethora of business segments, including filmed entertainment, television, cable network programming, newspapers, magazines and book publishing.
Jim is a Partner at Accel and is the President of Accel Management Company. Jim has been an investor in over 30 consumer Internet, media, and technology companies that have completed public offerings or successful mergers. Jim led Accel’s investment in Facebook (FB) in April, 2005, and has served on the Board of Directors since that time. He is the founding Chairman of the Compensation Committee. Jim is also currently on the board of directors of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc...
News Corp is the world’s largest media conglomerate company. News Corporation is a diversified global media company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers and information services; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and Latin America. Fox Interactive Media (FIM) oversees News Corporation’s Internet business operations. News Corp’s subsidiaries include: MySpace Slingshot Labs WSJ.com
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
