James Murdoch takes over as chairman of Sky plc

London: Sky plc says James Murdoch is taking over as chairman of the company's board, four years after he resigned from what was then known as BSkyB amid the phone-hacking scandal.

The board announced Friday that Murdoch, the second son of media titan Rupert Murdoch, was taking over as chairman and director of the company at the end of April. He replaces Nicholas Ferguson, who served on the board for 12 years.

James Murdoch had been credited with helping expand the Sky satellite TV brand to Italy and Germany, stakes later sold for $9.3 billion. While briefly in charge of British newspapers for Murdoch family interests, James Murdoch was tainted by the phone-hacking scandal that forced the closure of the tabloid News of the World in 2011.