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Murdoch's grip is not in doubt
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Globe and Mail- Rupert Murdoch has been denounced, humbled and forced to abandon a multibillion-dollar business deal because of the phone-hacking affair that has enraged the British public. But even a scandal of this magnitude is unlikely to loosen his iron grip on the media empire he has ruled for the past three decades.
Amid reports that the board of News Corp. (NWSA-Q16.150.362.28%) was considering replacing the 80-year-old chief executive officer with the company's president, Mr. Murdoch defended the company before a hearing of British politicians and received a strongly worded endorsement from a long-time director.
“I can assure you there has been no discussion at the board level in connection with this current scandal about making any changes,” said Thomas Perkins, a U.S. venture capitalist who has been on News Corp.’s board since 1996. “The board supports top management totally. The board has been misled, as has management, by very bad people at a very low level in the organization.”
The company has been ensnared in scandal for three weeks, since the news broke that its News of the World tabloid had hacked the voice-mail of a 13-year-old murder victim in their search for story leads. The scandal has reached the top levels of politics and the police in Britain, and has some calling for Mr. Murdoch to step down.
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