Rupert Murdoch on Thursday set in motion the biggest management shake-up at News Corp in years, giving his son, James, control over the media group’s European and Asian operations and dispatching two trusted executives to lead Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.

As part of the reshuffle, James Murdoch will step down as chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting, and replace his father as non-executive chairman of the UK satellite broadcaster, while Jeremy Darroch will be promoted from BSkyB’s chief financial officer to chief executive.