Murdoch quits boards of British newspapers

News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch has resigned from a string of directorships.

The 81-year-old media mogul has stepped down from boards overseeing the Sun, Times and Sunday Times newspapers in Britain.

It is likely to reignite speculation that News Corporation could be preparing to sell off the titles, following a phone hacking scandal at the now defunct News of the World tabloid which damaged Murdoch’s reputation in Britain.

In May, a parliamentary committee described him as unfit to run a major company.

James Murdoch, who was chairman of the British newspaper arm News International when the revelations emerged, has already quit the UK newspapers and moved to the US.

News Corporation is playing down Rupert Murdoch’s resignations, describing them as a “corporate house cleaning exercise” – linked to plans to split the firm into two separate operations.

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