News Corp. Shareholders Should Vote Out Murdochs, 10 Directors, ISS Says - Bloomberg
News Corp. (NWSA) investors should vote against the re-election of 13 out of 15 board members to establish more independent oversight of management, said the proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services.
News Corp. has suffered financial consequences from a phone-hacking scandal at one of its newspapers that reflect a lack of oversight, said ISS, which advises more than 1,700 investors on corporate governance issues. It recommended investors vote against Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch, his sons James and Lachlan, and 10 other directors.
“The company’s phone hacking scandal, which began its public denouement in July 2011, has laid bare a striking lack of stewardship and failure of independence by a board whose inability to set a strong tone-at-the-top about unethical business practices has now resulted in enormous costs,” ISS said in its report.
ISS has recommended against 3.6 percent of the directors at companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 this year, according to ISS spokesman Ted Allen. Shareholders will vote on board members and other issues at News Corp.’s annual meeting Oct. 21.
Glass Lewis & Co., another proxy advisory firm, also said the company needs a more independent board. The firm, which advises institutions with over $15 trillion in assets, said shareholders should vote against James and Lachlan Murdoch and four other directors.