Murdoch reunites with Shankar for India
January 14, 2021
James Murdoch is reuniting with Uday Shankar, who helped build Star, for a new media venture in India.
The project brings back together one of India’s most successful media partnerships with the aim of building a “large-scale” business in the areas of digital media, education and healthcare delivery.
Murdoch told the Financial Times it would be a “major priority” and a “centre of gravity” for his Lupa Systems holding company. Murdoch created Lupa using his $2 illiobn in proceeds from the $71 billion sale of most of the Murdoch family’s 21st Century Fox empire to Disney.
Shankar left Disney last month after spending two years as its president for Asia-Pacific and chair of its India operations. He is credited with turning a struggling Indian television channel in 2007 into one of the country’s biggest media groups and dominant sports broadcaster, with a Disney Plus Hotstar streaming service.