Rupert Murdoch quits directorships on string of boards behind The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times

Turning his back on newspapers? Rupert Murdoch,
pictured with his son James, has quit as director of a
string of boards behind The Sun, The Times and
The Sunday Times

• Quit NI Group, Times Newspaper Holdings and News Corp Investments
• Part of the 'slow fade of Rupert from the UK,' says media commentator
• Just corporate housecleaning exercise prior to company split, says NI
• James Murdoch quit directorships at NI last year... then stood down as chairman three months later

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 15:23 EST, 21 July 2012 | UPDATED: 17:07 EST, 21 July 2012

Rupert Murdoch has resigned as director of a string of companies behind UK newspapers The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, it emerged today.
The move has led to fevered speculation the media mogul is preparing to sell his newspaper group.


According to documents filed with Companies House, Mr Murdoch stepped down as director from the boards of the NI Group, Times Newspaper Holdings and News Corp Investments last week.

He also quit a number of News Corp’s U.S. boards, although the details have not yet been disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Media commentators said it was part of the 'slow fade of Rupert and James (his son) from the UK'.

His decision comes after a powerful group of shareholders called on him to stand down as chairman of News Corporation.   READ MORE

British Panel Finds Murdoch Unfit to Lead Media Empire

Tuesday, 01 May 2012 11:21 By John F Burns and Alan Cowell, The New York Times News Service | Report 

London - In a damning report after months of investigation into the hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, a parliamentary panel here concluded on Tuesday that he was "not a fit person" to run a huge international company, amplifying a public outcry against him, but threatening further bruising divisions within the political establishment.

The startling conclusion about the world's most influential media tycoon went much further in lambasting Mr. Murdoch than had been expected from Parliament's select committee on culture, media and sport, which has conducted several inquiries into press standards in recent years, the most recent starting last July.
DOCUMENT: The Full Parliamentary Report (PDF)

But the impact of the report by the all-party committee was blunted by divisions within the panel itself. Presaging further disarray within Britain's strained coalition government, the committee said it had split, 6 to 4, on party lines, with the dominant Conservatives opposing the censure of Mr. Murdoch while the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in Prime Minister David Cameron's government, joined the Labor opposition in supporting it.

"On the basis of the facts and evidence before the committee," the report said in one passage, "we conclude that, if at all relevant times Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about phone hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications."   READ MORE

Rupert Murdoch's Fox broadcast licences targeted by US ethics group

Eight arrests as Murdoch 'throws staff to the wolves'

Rupert Murdock

Five senior 'Sun' journalists, two MoD staff and a police officer taken in dawn swoop as new front opens in bribery scandal

Sunday 12 February 2012 

Rupert Murdoch was last night preparing to fly to Britain to join frantic efforts to secure the future of The Sun after the arrests of five senior journalists by police investigating allegations of bribery and phone hacking.


Police swooped on eight individuals between 6am and 8am yesterday, arresting the five Sun journalists, two Ministry of Defence staff and a police officer. The arrests came hard on the heels of five related arrests two weeks ago when four senior Sun journalists and a police officer were questioned in connection with bribery allegations. All eight were released on bail last night.

The latest astonishing development, which came two days after the Leveson inquiry into press standards finished its first session, prompted fury among the newspaper's staff, amid allegations that those arrested had been "thrown to the wolves" in an effort to bolster the embattled News Corp empire, and, particularly, to rekindle its hopes of taking over BSkyB. The police were acting on information provided by News International, owner of The Sun and Times newspapers, through its Management and Standards Committee (MSC).

Amid fury among the paper's editorial staff, Mr Murdoch was forced to issue a pledge last night that he was not preparing to sell the newspaper, via his chief executive, Tom Mockridge. Senior staff were told that Mr Murdoch planned to fly to London to calm the situation. Journalists including the paper's deputy editor were bailed after being questioned in connection with allegations of making illegal payments to police officers and other officials.   READ MORE

 

Blair is ‘Godfather to Murdoch’s Daughter’

LONDON — Former British prime minister Tony Blair is godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch's young children, sources said Monday, raising fresh questions about British political links to the media mogul's empire. The revelation emerged in a Vogue magazine interview with Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng, which also contains claims that Blair was present when Murdoch and Deng's two daughters were baptised beside the River Jordan in March last year. A spokesman for Blair's London office and a spokeswoman for Murdoch's US-based News Corporation both refused to comment on the story in Vogue's October UK edition, which is out on Thursday. READ MORE