Emilio Azcarraga Jean became CEO of Mexican TV network Grupo Televisa at age 29 in 1997 upon the death of his father, Emilio Azcarraga Milmo,
the
Los Angeles Times
reported.
Grupo Televisa, part of the family’s media empire, operated as a monopoly for decades until the debut of Mexico’s second national network, the report noted.
[Azcarraga Jean] has been credited with bringing greater neutrality and professionalism to its news department, which under his father had been an unabashed cheerleader for Mexio’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, which represented the country’s political establishment for 70 years until 2000.
Azcarraga Jean has been called “a Latin American Rupert Murdoch” because Murdoch also took over his fathers media company at a young age, the
LA Times
article said.
Under Azcarraga Jean, Grupo Televisa increasingly has become a powerhouse of global television production, with partnerships in China, the United States, South America and other places.
Observers have speculated that Azcarraga Jean, like Murdoch, may apply for U.S. citizenship to get around the federal law that prohibits foreign investors from controlling more than 25% of a U.S. broadcaster, the article said. But Azcarraga Jean told the
LA Times,
“I never intended on changing my citizenship.” (Source:
Los Angeles Times,
Sept. 14, 2009.)
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