Murdoch Steps Down From Boards of UK Papers

Rupert Murdoch (L) and family are driven away from the High Court in Central London on April 26 after Murdoch’s second and final day of giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into an alleged cover-up of phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid newspaper. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch has resigned from the board of directors of several U.K. newspapers of parent company News Corp., in a move thought to distance himself from the British newspaper business that was involved in a public phone hacking scandal a few years ago.

According to filings made with Companies House in the U.K., Murdoch last week stepped down as director at NI Group, News Corp. Investments, and Times Newspaper Holdings, all News Corp. subsidiaries. Those companies hold News Corp.’s U.K. newspaper assets including The Sun, The Sunday Times, and The Times.

Murdoch also quit as member of the board on a few U.S. newspaper subsidiaries, although as of Sunday it is unclear which companies were affected, because the filings have not reached the Securities & Exchange Commission, according to the Daily Mail report.

Murdoch’s move to step down as director is an evolutionary step for News Corp. to split its business into two separate companies.

Last month, the New York-based News Corp. announced that it would split into two publicly traded companies, one housing its media and publishing businesses—including The Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins—and the other containing its film and television operations, including Fox News and Fox Entertainment Studios.

The split was long clamored by shareholders looking for increased returns from News Corp. The newspaper and publishing business has seen its revenues slump in recent years as advertising and circulation revenue in print publishing declined. In contrast, its high-margin entertainment business reported year-over-year revenue gains, of 13 percent in 2011.

At the time, it was announced that Murdoch would be the chairman of both the newspaper and publishing business, but only the chief executive officer of the entertainment business.

Murdoch’s exit from the U.K. has long been expected. In the wake of the phone hacking scandal at the now-defunct News of the World, a report by a committee of MPs said that Murdoch was “not a fit person” to run the international media company.

Murdoch and his son, James, were both under heavy fire from lawmakers and regulators, and appeared in front of several parliamentary probe hearings.

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