LONDON (AP) — Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has resigned as a
director of a number of News Corp. boards overseeing his Britain
newspapers, a spokeswoman confirmed Saturday. He also quit from some of
the media company’s subsidiary boards in the United States.
Murdoch
stepped down this past week as a director of NI Group, Times Newspaper
Holdings and News Corp. Investments in the U.K., said Daisy Dunlop,
spokeswoman for News Corp.’s British arm, News International. The
companies oversee The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times.
It was
not immediately clear which of News Corp.’s U.S. boards Murdoch had
left. Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, which first reported the news late
Saturday, said those details had not yet been disclosed by the US
Securities and Exchange Commission.
News International sought to
play down the significance of the resignations, saying in a statement
that "this is nothing more than a corporate housecleaning exercise prior
to the company split."
That was a reference to News Corp.’s
announcement June 28 that it would separate its publishing business,
which includes The Wall Street Journal, from its much more profitable
media and entertainment business — forming two distinct, publicly traded
companies. Under those proposed changes, Murdoch, 81, will chair both
of the companies, although he would continue as chief executive of the
media and entertainment company only.
Saturday’s announcement
suggests that Murdoch may be distancing himself from his British
newspaper interests, which have been shaken to the core by a widespread
phone hacking scandal.
The scandal erupted anew last year when it
emerged that Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid had
systematically hacked voicemails of politicians and celebrities. The
revelations have rocked Britain’s establishment and triggered three
parallel police investigations that have resulted in more than 40
arrests. Illegal eavesdropping allegations at the News of the World led
to the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, then-CEO of News International,
who has been accused of perverting justice in the scandal.
Murdoch
and his son, James, both had to testify in front of a parliamentary
committee probing the allegations. The committee declared the elder
Murdoch unfit to run an international business.
James Murdoch had already resigned as chairman of News International.
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Sylvia Hui can be reached at http://twitter.com/sylviahui
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.