Rupert Murdoch sheds roles in ‘house cleaning

The move was described as “nothing more than a corporate house-cleaning exercise” by News International, the UK publishing arm of News Corporation, which produces the Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

However, some commentators said the move will revive speculation that News Corporation could be preparing to sell the titles, following a phone hacking scandal at the now defunct News of the World which has damaged Mr Murdoch’s reputation in Britain.

Mr Murdoch, chief executive of News Corporation, resigned from roles in News Corp Investments, News International Group Limited and Times Newspaper Holdings in the UK last week. He has also stepped down from boards in the US, Australia and India.

A spokeswoman for News International said: “Last week Mr Murdoch stepped down from a number of boards, many of them small subsidiary boards, both in the UK and US. This is nothing more than a corporate house-cleaning exercise prior to the company split.”

The company said the move was part of plans to split News Corporation into separate newspaper and entertainment operations, which were announced last month. It will see News Corp’s film and television businesses – including 20th Century Fox and the Fox broadcasting network – grouped in one company.

The other company would hold all News Corp’s publishing interests, such as the Wall Street Journal, The Times, the Sun, The Australian, the New York Post and publisher HarperCollins. The entertainment arm would be by far the bigger operation. The publishing division has been hindered in recent years by tough market conditions. News Corporation has been rocked by the hacking debacle, with Mr Murdoch and his son James coming under heavy fire.

A report by MPs claimed Rupert Murdoch was “not a fit person” to run an international company following an inquiry by the Commons Culture Committee investigating the News of the World scandal.

However, Tory MPs on the committee refused to support the report after Labour and the sole Liberal Democrat pushed through the criticism of Mr Murdoch by a vote of six to four.

Conservative Louise Mensch had said the insistence of Labour MP Tom Watson on inserting a conclusion that was “wildly outside the scope” of the inquiry had undermined the report’s credibility.

The board of News Corp announced its full support for Rupert Murdoch after the report was published. James Murdoch resigned as chairman of BSkyB in April, admitting he had become its “lightning rod”, just weeks after he quit as boss of News International.