Rupert Murdoch quits boards of British newspapers

Rupert Murdoch has resigned as director of a number of companies behind British newspapers The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, a News International spokesman said.

“Last week Mr Murdoch stepped down from a number of boards, many of them small subsidiary boards, both in the UK and US,” a spokesman for News Corp’s British publishing arm News International has said.

The News Corp chief executive is stepping down from his role on the boards of News Corp Investments, News International Group Limited and Times Newspaper Holdings.

He has also left more than a dozen boards in the US, Australia and India.

News International sought to play down the development, saying it was “no more than a corporate house-cleaning exercise prior to the company split”.

The decision comes after Mr Murdoch announced last month that News Corp will press ahead with a split of the entertainment division from its struggling publishing business, saying he is committed to both units.

He said he would be chairman of both companies, including an entertainment unit led by Fox studios and television assets, and a publishing unit that includes The Wall Street Journal and The Times of London.

An email sent to newspaper staff on Saturday said the latest move “is part of the preparation of the business for the upcoming restructure into two companies”, British media reported.

In the memo, News International boss Tom Mockridge said Mr Murdoch “remains fully committed... as chairman of what will become the largest newspaper and digital group in the world.”

“We look forward to seeing him in London over the Olympic Games,” he added.

The announcement fuelled speculation in the British press however that News Corp could be preparing to sell its British newspapers, which have been at the centre of Britain’s phone hacking scandal.