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MUMBAI:
News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch is in the line of fire ahead
of the company's 16 October annual general meeting with the
Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA) voting to remove
Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan Murdoch from the News
Corp board.
According
to Daily Telegraph, FSBA with assets worth $150 billion under
its control has backed calls for an independent chairman to
be appointed, and voted for the abolition of News Corp’s
dual-class share structure, which hands the Murdochs a disproportionate
amount of power.
FSBA
is the latest among the list of powerful pension funds to
have called for Murdoch's head. The funds believe that Murdoch
has compromised on the corporate governance.
Earlier,
California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers)
and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System
(Calstrs), the two largest pension funds in America with combined
assets of nearly $400 billion, have voted him out. The Calpers
and Calstrs had also called on News Corp to split the roles
of chairman and chief executive.
However,
Murdoch is unperturbed by these developments. “Any shareholders
with complaint should take profits and sell!” the unabashed
Murdoch had posted on his Twitter account.
Murdoch
is banking on arithmetics to sail through the current crisis.
The Murdoch family holds 12 per cent but its dual class shareholding
structure gives it 40 per cent of the voting power.
Add
to that the backing of second largest investor Prince Al-Waleed
bin Talal, who holds seven per cent in the media conglomerate.
The dual structure gives Prince Al-Waleed almost 20 per cent
voting power.
With
60 per cent voting power in its kitty, the Murdoch family
has the ability to push through their decisions and at the
same time stall decisions that might not be in their interest.
And
much to Murdoch's relief, ISS, the influential US shareholder
advisory body, has thrown its weight behind Murdoch after
calling for his removal from News Corp at the height of phone
hacking scandal.
A
year ago ISS wanted no less than 13 of the 15 directors to
be rejected. However in an about turn, it has thrown its weight
behind all the directors.
Talking
of phone hacking, former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks
was reportedly given a payout package worth about £7
million pounds after stepping down following the phone hacking
scandal.
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