Rupert Murdoch speaks of ‘unfair attack’ in face of shareholder revolt

News Corp chairman and chief executive makes defiant address at annual shareholder’s meeting in Los Angeles Rupert Murdoch has made a defiant and uncompromising address in front of his company’s shareholders in Los Angeles, insisting News Corp’s history was the “stuff of legend” as he prepares to face down the most serious investor revolt in the company’s history. The 80-year-old chairman and chief executive of the media giant said he was “personally determined” to clean up the phone hacking scandal that had led to the closure of the News of the World, but said the issue needed to be set in context at a company that had been under “understandable scrutiny and unfair attack”. He argued that the business had a famous history – from the time he took over a single newspaper in Adelaide in 1953 – which had to be set against the revelations that several reporters at the News of the World had been engaged in hacking into voicemails left for crime victims, their families, public figures and celebrities. Speaking at the start of the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Murdoch offered no fresh concessions. With 40% of the votes in his control, there was no prospect of either Murdoch or his heir apparent and son, James, being voted off the board. However, the scale of the rebellion was expected to exceed 20% of non-family shareholders. Those attending included Edward Mason, secretary of the ethical investment advisory group of the Church of England, which owns about $6m of News Corp shares. “There needs to be decisive action in terms of holding people to account,” he told the Guardian before the event, noting that it was the first time his group had attended a company annual meeting. Later, at the meeting, Murdoch criticised the church’s investment track record, describing it as “not that great”. Julie Tanner, assistant director of News Corp investor Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), which represents more than 1,000 Catholic institutions worldwide, was the first to question Murdoch’s track record at the meeting itself, saying that the “extraordinary scandals” in the UK required corporate overhaul. Tanner proposed a motion that News Corp appoint an independent chairman, “to empower the board in relation to the Murdoch family”, and asked that the company launch a “truly independent investigation” into the phone-hacking allegations, instead of the work by its London-based internal management and standards committee. The Labour MP Tom Watson, a persistent thorn in Murdoch’s side, who travelled to Los Angeles to attend the AGM, commented on the “deepest irony” of Friday’s opening presentation, which included images of Prince William – who he alleged had been targeted by former News of the World private investigator Glenn Mulcaire – and Kate Middleton, who he claimed had been targeted by another private investigator employed by the now closed Sunday tabloid, Jonathan Rees. Watson warned News Corp investors that they were facing “Mulcaire 2″ in the UK as victims of alleged computer hacking took action against News International. “You haven’t told any of your investors what is to come,” he told Murdoch, although the News Corp boss insisted in response that his company was co-operating fully with police inquiries. Investors, critics and the press were bussed into the high security event from a parking lot in Century City to the Zanuck Theatre at Fox Studios, where a collection of Oscars was on display outside. Investors were deciding whether to reappoint the company’s directors, including Rupert Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan, whether to endorse a remuneration scheme that paid Murdoch $33.3m last year, and whether to appoint an independent chairman. A few hours before the meeting began, News Corp confirmed it had reached an agreement to pay the family of murdered teenager Milly Dowler £2m in compensation, with Rupert Murdoch personally donating an additional £1m to six charities. The settlement relates to the hacking of the missing schoolgirl’s phone messages by the News of the World after she went missing in March 2002. “Nothing that has been agreed will ever bring back Milly,” the Dowler family said. “The only way that a fitting tribute could be agreed was to ensure that a very substantial donation to charity was made in Milly’s memory.” Rupert Murdoch News Corporation Phone hacking United States Tom Watson Media business Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Dominic Rushe Dan Sabbagh Jason Deans guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.