Get the latest gossip
News Corp. Defends Murdoch Family’s Super Voting Stock As It Nears Showdown With Activist Investor – Update
News Corp. investor Starboard Value said today it plans to challenge News Corp.’s dual share structure that gives control of the company to Rupert Murdoch and would then transfer it to his four adult children.
The problem there is that three of them – James, Elisabeth and Prudence — may not agree with Lachlan Murdoch, the chair of Fox, on how to run the family business, creating uncertainty that “represents a risk to shareholders,” Starboard said in a letter today. Theoretically, some may believe dual-class share structures could provide potential benefits to recently listed companies that, perhaps, want their visionary founder to be insulated against short-term pressures for a limited period of time. The four Murdoch siblings with voting rights within the Trust are reported to have widely differing worldviews, which, collectively, could be paralyzing to the strategic direction of the Company; more importantly, we are not sure why their perspectives should carry greater weight than the views of other shareholders.
Or read this on Deadline
