Investors in bid to force Murdoch to quit as chairman of News Corporation

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Investors in bid to force Murdoch to quit as chairman of News Corporation

July 19th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Rupert Steiner

PUBLISHED:

17:36 EST, 18 July 2012

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UPDATED:

17:36 EST, 18 July 2012

A powerful group of shareholders is calling for Rupert Murdoch to stand down as chairman of News Corporation.

The billionaire’s place at the helm of the company is under threat after the 18 financial heavyweights from across the globe backed a motion to oust him.

Mr Murdoch has spent the past 60 years creating News Corp, which owns the Sun, Times and Sunday Times, BSkyB and numerous other media brands.

Heading for the exit? Billionaire News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch with wife Wendi

The shareholders, including British investors Aviva and Legal General, have signed a letter calling for an independent chairman in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

They say in their letter to Mr Murdoch that they will support a proposal calling for this at the media group’s annual meeting in October.

It is the first time a significant number of investors have risen up to express their anger over the running of the firm and this will be hard for the board to ignore, despite the grip the Murdoch family has over the business.

If 81-year-old Mr Murdoch is forced out it would leave his key lieutenant at News Corp, Chase Carey, in full management control. Mr Carey is known to be focused on the company’s entertainment interests and would speed up the process of selling off the British newspaper arm, News International, which publishes the Sun, Times and Sunday Times.

The Murdoch family owns 40 per cent of the voting shares in News Corp through a complex ownership structure.

The shareholders’ letter bluntly told the media tycoon: ‘We believe it is important for News Corporation to uphold the highest standards of corporate governance in order to protect the value of our investment.

Power battle: News Corporation headquarters in Manhattan in New York

‘Given the recent reputational, legal and regulatory risks brought about by allegations of phone hacking and payments to police officers by News Corporation subsidiaries in the UK… we believe the board is in need of independent leadership.’

Mr Murdoch has exercised an iron grip over the company, organising a series of audacious takeovers. He has created the Fox television network in the US and taken control of America’s biggest selling newspaper The Wall Street Journal. But since the emergence of the scandal at News International his control of the empire has been slipping

Earlier this year his son James was required to step down as chairman of BSkyB, despite the family having a 39 per cent stake in the publicly quoted company.

Over the past few weeks, Rupert Murdoch has proposed splitting News Corp in two, separating its publishing assets from its entertainment arm.

The move would hive off the film and television businesses, including 20th Century Fox movie studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News channel, from its newspapers and book publishing assets, which also include The Australian newspaper and the HarperCollins book publishing house.

The restructuring follows the phone-hacking scandal, which resulted in the closure of the News of the World and the resignation of several senior executives.

The fall-out also forced News Corp to ditch its £8billion takeover of the portion of BSkyB that it does not own. That bid has come under intense scrutiny at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, which was set up in the wake of the phone hacking furore.

The inquiry has questioned an array of senior figures in politics and the media, including David Cameron, former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and the Prime Minister’s former director of communications, Andy Coulson.

Several News of the World and Sun journalists have been arrested in the parallel criminal investigations into phone hacking and corrupt payments to police.

In their letter, the investors added: ‘The board’s announcement of its intention to split the company into separate media and publishing arms presents a unique opportunity for serious governance reform.

‘Appointing an independent chair at News Corp and its successor companies will go a long way to restoring shareholder confidence.

‘We hereby urge the board to seriously consider the request put forward by the shareholder resolution and agree to appoint an independent chair at News Corp and its successor companies who has not served as an executive of the company or its subsidiaries.’