Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the largest shareholder of News Corp outside the Murdoch family, offered his opinion on Rupert Murdoch’s replacement.

ALWALEED: I met with Mr. Rupert Murdoch and Mr. James Murdoch. We are always in touch. I’m second biggest shareholder there. And no doubt that News Corp is moving on all the fronts. You’ve seen how FOX rating is skyrocketing. … James is now managing Europe and Asia. … I’ll be the first one to nominate him to be the successor of Mr. Rupert Murdoch, god forbid if something happens to him. … I have full confidence in [James], full trust in him, and he’s capable. He’s really Rupert Murdoch in the making, and he’s almost there now.

With the recent Supreme Court ruling, is there is a question of who will be aided by Alwaleed’s financial support?  Alwaleed, King Abdullah’s nephew, has been a friend of the Bush family for 30 years, the richest person in Saudi Arabia, the 22nd richest person in the world and he holds large stakes in many American companies, including Citi, who received billions of dollars in bailout money.

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