James Murdoch resigns from UK newspaper boards

@CNNMoney November 23, 2011: 4:31 PM ET
James Murdoch has stepped down from the boards of the companies that publish The Times of London and The Sun newspapers, News Corp subsidiary News International said Wednesday.

James Murdoch has been criticized for his handling of the phone hacking scandal at News Corp.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- James Murdoch has resigned from the boards of a pair of companies that publish News Corp's UK newspaper titles.

The news comes amid questions about James's handling of the phone hacking scandal that has engulfed the company, and follows the arrest of former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks in July.

News International, a News Corp. subsidiary, said in a statement Wednesday that Murdoch resigned in September from the boards of News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun, and Times Newspapers Ltd, which publishes The Times of London.

He remains as chairman of News International and as a director of Times Newspapers' holding company. He is also deputy chief operating officer of News Corp. (NWSA, Fortune 500), which his father Rupert heads.

News Group Newspapers published the News of the World tabloid before being forced to shutter it in July after allegations that employees of the paper had hacked into the voicemails of thousands of people, including a missing teenager who was later found murdered. There are also allegations that News of the World bribed police for information.

Rupert and James Murdoch were called to testify on the issue in July before the British Parliament, where they denied direct responsibility for the hacking.

At News Corp's annual meeting last month, shareholders voiced their frustration over James's handling of the scandal, with 35% voting against his re-election to the company's board. The figure was especially striking given that the Murdochs control about 40% of News Corp's voting shares. To top of page

  • -->

    Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.