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News Corp

Of News Corp and Corgis

August 30, 2012

The world has changed and some businesses that worked in the past won’t work in the future. Elisabeth Murdoch can’t be the only next-gen wondering if it’s easier just to jump ship and build something better.

When Elisabeth Murdoch stood up to deliver the MacTaggart Lecture recently – the main event at an annual British media jamboree in Edinburgh – the audience may have braced itself for a repeat of her brother James’s infamous appearance before British parliament.

Explaining why journalists at the newspapers he ran were hacking the phones of murdered girls and bombing victims, he lapsed into incomprehensible management jargon, blathering about “pushbacks” and “financial quantum”. Fortunately Elisabeth is made from different stuff.

News Corp’s board approves plan to split the family business

June 28, 2012

Plans to split News Corporation into two separate companies have been given the go ahead, after the media conglomerate’s board voted in favour of the division.

The company confirmed on 28 June the board has tasked management with looking at how family-controlled News Corp could be split into an entertainment business on one side and a publishing and education company on the other.

News Corp considers splitting family business into two

June 26, 2012

Media conglomerate News Corporation, controlled by the Murdoch family, confirmed today (26 June) that it is considering splitting its business – a move that will separate its film and television operations from its publishing division.

Alwaleed: News Corp’s reputation damaged, but support for Murdoch unwavering

May 9, 2012

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, one of News Corporation’s biggest shareholder, is “unwavering” in his support of Rupert Murdoch, but he also admits the phone-hacking scandal has damaged the family-controlled company’s reputation.

News Corp – a family business?

May 2, 2012

Ask News Corp’s communications team whether the media group is a family business and they will reply no. But if News Corp is to start rebuilding its reputation hurt badly by the hacking scandal in the UK, then maybe it should start seeing itself as a family business – and start following the best practices followed by family-run companies.

Ask News Corp’s communications team whether the media group is a family business and they will reply no.

But if you apply the standard definition of what constitutes a family business – 25% or more of the company is owned (voting or capital) by the same family, at least one family member is involved in management of the business, and the company is at least in its second generation of family control – then News Corp is a family business.

Rupert Murdoch ‘not fit’ to lead major international company

May 1, 2012

Rupert Murdoch, the 81-year-old patriarch of family-controlled News Corporation, has been branded unfit to lead a major international company by British MPs.

Members of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, in a report published on 1 May, said Murdoch turned “a blind eye” and “exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications”.

News Corp falls foul of US foreign investor law

April 19, 2012

Rupert Murdoch’s grip on News Corporation seemed to weaken on Wednesday, after a breach of US law forced the media conglomerate to suspend the voting shares of some of the 81-year-old’s biggest allies.

In a statement, News Corp said that in order to comply with foreign ownership rules relating to the US 1934 Communications Act, it was suspending 50% of the class B voting rights of its non-US investors.

King Murdoch – and why Rupert is magnificent

April 4, 2012

Anyone who has ever said business is less interesting than sport has got to have his or her head tested. And if you add family business into the mix, then things get even zippier.

In time to come, a movie will be made about the life of Rupert Murdoch and – even if it’s most unlikely Fox Searchlight will be the studio that makes it – it has the potential to follow Citizen Kane with which it has many fascinating parallels.

Stop running News Corp for Murdoch family’s benefit, says investor

April 3, 2012

A powerful US investment body has called for Rupert Murdoch’s dual role as chairman and chief executive of family-controlled News Corporation to be split, in a bid to address the media conglomerate’s “lax ethical culture” and “lack of effective board oversight”.

Christian Brothers Investment Services wants an independent chairman to be appointed to improve governance and represent “the interests of all shareholders”, not just the Murdoch family.

Murdoch sells majority of his non-voting News Corp shares

November 22, 2011

News Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch has sold over 90% of his class A stock in the family-controlled media conglomerate but will remain in control of the company thanks to its dual-class share system.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, between 16 and 17 of November, the 80-year-old sold 3.6 million of the company’s class A shares, worth about $17 (€12.5) each, for a total of $62 million.