James Murdoch sells News shares James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer of News Corp and son of chairman Rupert Murdoch, sold $US25.1 million of nonvoting shares in the company, capitalising on a 65 per cent gain in the stock over the past year. Mr Murdoch sold 752,000 Class A shares at $US33.32, representing more than a fifth of his stake, according to a US Securities and Exchange filing. Mr Murdoch still owns 1,644 Class B shares, which have voting rights in News Corp. The sale comes ahead of a proposed split of News Corp's entertainment assets from the declining publishing business, where earnings sagged 35 per cent in the most recent quarter from the year earlier. The company's lucrative cable-network division rose 17 per cent in sales for the period. This is James Murdoch's second-biggest stock sale in the past six months. The executive, who made $US16.8 million in salary, bonus and stock awards last year, made a gift in December of 402,260 Class A shares to his charitable foundation Quadrivium, which deals in conservation and educational issues in developing nations. A News Corp spokesman declined to comment. News Corp's shares have been on a tear since the company announced in June that it would spin off its newspapers and HarperCollins book publishing house into a separate company. Wall Street cheered because investors had long lobbied for the senior Murdoch to exit the paper-and-ink business. The company split is expected to be complete next month. In recent days, News Corp Class A stock hit a 52-week high of $US34.04. Rupert Murdoch also has sold tens of millions of dollars in stock in recent months as the price climbed. Last weekend, Rupert Murdoch bought the Moraga Vineyard Estates in Bel Air. The 82-year-old tycoon announced the purchase on Twitter, but he stopped short of disclosing the price. The property had been listed for $US29.5 million. LA Times, Bloomberg