Rupert Murdoch, the Twitter-loving and battered media mogul, is making some big moves: The AP reports that he "has resigned from a number of News Corp. subsidiary boards in Britain and the United States. Daisy Dunlop confirmed a report Saturday in Britain's Telegraph newspaper, which said that Murdoch had stepped down as a director of NI Group, Times Newspaper Holdings and News Corp. Investments in the U.K."
The U.S. boards were not specified, and the Telegraph reports that the move "[fuels] expectations that he is preparing to sell the newspaper group." An analyst told the Telegraph that this is the "slow fade of Rupert and [his son] James from the UK," prompted by the phone hacking scandal. Claire Enders said, "The grip of the Murdochs, finger by finger, has been loosened and it’s not in order to return triumphantly. It’s a permanent shift. James and Rupert have decided that they are not welcome in the UK, and they’re right. there is an enforced emotional withdrawal from these assets because they are no longer useful [in terms of influence]."
Murdoch faces a contentious shareholder meeting this fall.
