News Corp Shareholders Include Hacking in Class action suit against News Corp

[BostonPirate]

Just for you kulindahr...lol

A group of News Corp. shareholders has updated a March lawsuit against the company to include the phone-hacking scandal, calling it evidence of a breakdown in board oversight. Meanwhile, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group wants Congress to investigate whether any journalists working for the company’s U.K. division, News International, hacked into the phones of U.S. citizens.

..................

The original lawsuit, which was filed by Amalgamated Bank and several public sector pension funds, accused News Corp. of nepotism over the company’s $615 million purchase of Shine Group, the production firm run by Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth. The lawsuit charged that Murdoch “habitually uses News Corp to enrich himself and his family members at the company’s and its public shareholders’ expense.”

In the amended complaint, the plaintiffs pointed to the phone-hacking and police payoffs scandal as evidence “a culture run amuck within News Corp and a Board that provides no effective review or oversight.”

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-...complaint-portend-u.s.-headaches-for-murdoch/

it would seem that the shareholders and stock owners have had it with Murdoch and are moving in for the killing financial blow.

News corp stock values have tumbled, and Murdoch has innitiated a 5 billion dollar buyback of some of the loose paper to shore up the continually sinking value of his entire empire.

Murdoch stock is now poison, and the investors want their money back from Murdoch.

I believe that the criminal courts have a go at him first before this

 

[White Eagle]

Don't piss off your meal ticket.

 

[maxpowr9]

Don't piss off your meal ticket.

Rule #1 of finance: NEVER piss off the shareholders. They own and elect the CEO and the board of directors. Nobody is really surprised that Murdoch is now being called a robber baron. This talk was lunchtime fodder and we basically concluded that this is a "gathering storm" and we wouldn't doubt Rebekah Brooks will take a plea bargain and spill the beans.

"The first thing jettisoned on a sinking ship is integrity."

 

[BostonPirate]

Rule #1 of finance: NEVER piss off the shareholders. They own and elect the CEO and the board of directors. Nobody is really surprised that Murdoch is now being called a robber baron. This talk was lunchtime fodder and we basically concluded that this is a "gathering storm" and we wouldn't doubt Rebekah Brooks will take a plea bargain and spill the beans.

"The first thing jettisoned on a sinking ship is integrity."

I just had that exact same conversation. They had her in interogation for 12 hours before her release, and they issued arrest warrants following, along with a rash of resignations of law enforcement ofiicials.

She spilled the beans, and the only way they will let her off the hook is if they think they can catch a bigger fish.

 

[JB3]

I just had that exact same conversation. They had her in interogation for 12 hours before her release, and they issued arrest warrants following, along with a rash of resignations of law enforcement ofiicials.

She spilled the beans, and the only way they will let her off the hook is if they think they can catch a bigger fish.

If she spilled anything relating to either Murdoch they would already be under arrest.

 

[BostonPirate]

If she spilled anything relating to either Murdoch they would already be under arrest.

interesting theory. That assumes they don't have eight other people in custody to also interview first before drawing up charges.

You KNOW how long investigations of this scope take. whatever they are doing right now has to be airtight and carefully constructed, because Murdoch is going to throw the full force of Billions of dollars worth of legal deffence at them.

No

they are going to take their time on this, and see what they can get him to "fess Up" to in person in parliament.

THEN it will be Holders turn.

 

[JB3]

interesting theory. That assumes they don't have eight other people in custody to also interview first before drawing up charges.

You KNOW how long investigations of this scope take. whatever they are doing right now has to be airtight and carefully constructed, because Murdoch is going to throw the full force of Billions of dollars worth of legal deffence at them.

No

they are going to take their time on this, and see what they can get him to "fess Up" to in person in parliament.

THEN it will be Holders turn.

If she 'sang like a bird' as you implied, they would already have enough to have him arrested (if there was anything about him to tell in the first place), especially with his ability to fly anywhere on the planet.

 

[BostonPirate]

If she 'sang like a bird' as you implied, they would already have enough to have him arrested (if there was anything about him to tell in the first place), especially with his ability to fly anywhere on the planet.

thats not how this works. IT took a special prosecutor two years of investigating clinton to come up with a blowjob, and it went to an impeachment vote.

Believe me, for the likes of Mr Murdoch, they are going to be cautious and they are going to be slow.

I hope you enjoy watching the broadcast of this questioning before parliament tommorow.

I'm sure its going to make the value of his stock SOAR.

Its going to be a banner day for Old Murdoch cause the Market is a wee bit sour right now over the whole moody's and S&P credit reconsideration. BankofAmerica dropped below ten dollars a share.

skittish investors are going to continue to dump his stock until it drops in the penny stock range, (valued at the 5 dollar per share of less) and if it continues as its going now, that will happen in about a week.

All those losses of these shareholders may have to be covered my Murdoch. I guess we know where the BSkyB money is going to wind up going.

The value of the family’s News Corp. holdings fell to about $4.96 billion today in U.S. trading, from almost $6 billion at the July 1 close, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, before reports that News of the World had hacked into the voicemail messages of murdered U.K. teen Milly Dowler.
The loss of $977 million represents a drop of 16 percent, highlighting the financial consequences for the Murdoch family. Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of Murdoch’s U.K. newspapers, resigned last week and was arrested by police yesterday. At stock’s lowest today, the decline was $1.03 billion.

and

Standard & Poor’s today put News Corp. debt on “creditwatch with negative implications,” because of risk associated with the investigation.
“The U.K. legal process has expanded and pressure from U.S. lawmakers has increased for an FBI probe” of possible phone hacking in the U.S., S&P said in a statement.
News Corp. Class B voting shares fell 69 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $15.40 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, after dropping to $15.23 earlier. The Class A nonvoting shares declined 68 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $14.97, above the intraday low of $14.76.

I give it maybe two weeks before Murdoch is the king of a penny stock empire.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-18/murdoch-stock-loss-nears-1-billion-in-hacking.html

 

[Kulindahr]

Or not king at all, if those shareholders win -- he could end up with nothing.

 

[MoltenRock III]

Interesting recap of Murdochs cozy relationship with American politicians both R and D that were supposed to be regulating him.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/18/opinion/main20080226.shtml?tag=re1.channel

 

[JB3]

Or not king at all, if those shareholders win -- he could end up with nothing.

Those shareholders only own a tiny percent of the company. (a million of 1.8 billion shares) The board supports him, and the rest of the shareholders will do the same.

Oh and all of this brings up an even scarier prospect than News Corp staying together: What happens if another major media conglomerate (disney for example) buys up major chunks of what's left of News Corp? Do we really want that? (because that's exactly what would happen)

 

[BostonPirate]

Those shareholders only own a tiny percent of the company. (a million of 1.8 billion shares) The board supports him, and the rest of the shareholders will do the same.

Oh and all of this brings up an even scarier prospect than News Corp staying together: What happens if another major media conglomerate (disney for example) buys up major chunks of what's left of News Corp? Do we really want that? (because that's exactly what would happen)

ehhh

Discovery will buy nat geo

ABC or CBS will buy FOX and make it their cable branch... Etc.

I personally would be FAR happier with disney holding those broadcasting licenses than Murdoch.

Breaking up his global propaganda network is NOT a bad thing. No matter who the parts get sold to, they wont have as many holdings as Murdoch does globally, or nationally.

I wonder who will buy myspace

 

[MoltenRock III]

Those shareholders only own a tiny percent of the company. (a million of 1.8 billion shares) The board supports him, and the rest of the shareholders will do the same.

Oh and all of this brings up an even scarier prospect than News Corp staying together: What happens if another major media conglomerate (disney for example) buys up major chunks of what's left of News Corp? Do we really want that? (because that's exactly what would happen)

Maybe George Soros will buy it.

 

[JB3]

Maybe George Soros will buy it.

He doesn't have enough money.

 

[JB3]

ehhh

Discovery will buy nat geo

ABC or CBS will buy FOX and make it their cable branch... Etc.

I personally would be FAR happier with disney holding those broadcasting licenses than Murdoch.

Breaking up his global propaganda network is NOT a bad thing. No matter who the parts get sold to, they wont have as many holdings as Murdoch does globally, or nationally.

I wonder who will buy myspace

No offense, but do you understand how much Disney owns? They own a ton of different media properties. They're bigger than News Corp, and own a far more diverse range of companies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney

Them owning Fox or any of News Corps companies is far scarier than News Corp owning them.

 

[MoltenRock III]

He doesn't have enough money.

Of course he does. So does John Malone, who I actually think would buy it. If the Fox empire was broken up the US properties would be bought by at least 6 to 10 companies depending on market and niche. No one person would buy it all, but rather just the piece/s that fit their need.

 

[JB3]

Of course he does. So does John Malone, who I actually think would buy it. If the Fox empire was broken up the US properties would be bought by at least 6 to 10 companies depending on market and niche. No one person would buy it all, but rather just the piece/s that fit their need.

News Corp is worth $30 billion dollars. The US arm alone half that. Soros would go bankrupt trying to buy it. Malone has even less.

 

[rareboy]

^ One thing you need to understand.

When billionaires buy this kind of shit, they never use their own money. And the purpose of buying conglomerates is usually to bust them up and sell the pieces. This is the way that business works.

It is the way that almost all empires crumble.

Unfortunately, guys, don't get your hopes up too much.

While this is the kind of setback that will tarnish the end of Rupert's rapacious and nasty career, and while his children don't have nearly the killer instinct or the sociopathic smarts of the father, they are still a force to be reckoned with.

I agree that the Murdoch's may now elect to dump the losing papers and shift their sights to the electronic media only. The only weakness with this is that Murdoch senior doesn't really understand the interwebz.

So don't expect the empire to be put on the block just quite yet.

But do expect the shareholders in News to become much more active in trying to preserve the investment they have in all of this.

 

[BostonPirate]

Interesting, Rareboy.

Apparently the Board of directors is considering retiring Murdoch and forcing him out.

Since his son is going to face charges and his protege and accepted heir to his place in the empire, Ms Brooks also was arrested, it is likely that this is a hostile takever from within the board.

Who THAT person is remains to be seen, but my bet is that, whomever they are, they will ditch the assets that are causing a drag on the overall value of their brand.

I think FOX will be sold. They need ALOT less controversy at this point. Its ratings have been dropping steadily anyway as people have become so disillusioned by the GOP as a whole. REpublican congress have a 21 approvalrating right now.. think about that... people hate the GOP congress more than they hated Bush in this Zenith of villification. I think the lowest he hit was 23.

ANd these are the people that Murdoch is hiring and messaging for through the FOX venue.

FOX will be ditched. Perhaps that New Channel in development will buy it. That Kelsey Grammar project.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehMl-CztpnA[/ame]

I think that WSJ will be sold, and personally I would like to see a employee co- op owned institution there. THey have become a bit of an american standard, or was berfore Murdoch grabbed it. Each employee gets a share of the annual profits based on how long they've been a member, and the editor is ellected by the general shareholders (all the other employees) to act as general manager.

This method of management Is sedom used now, but is what an institution needs like the WSJ.

I think it would be free of special interests, and quality becomes mutually beneficial to the individual employees. Everyone becomes their own boss in effect, by desire. The better YOU are the more money your yearly dividend would be.

I am fond of this model of management for Media outlets of all formats.

I think news cannot be run using a classic corporate model, because it steers the "truth" towards telling people what they want to hear, just to get a buck.

Palin has lost her relevance, but people either love to hate her or love to defend her, so the press will spend 10 minutes a day on her, and ignore deeper coverage of what a debt default would honestly mean. In the old days, the press investigated the truth, and reported it.

Now the pols have pressers, and then the talking heads critique them and discuss their method.

We need an independent news source in america, that does not answer to a Board, or the moneymen.... just to themselves and a quality product.

 

[RobinGoodfellow]

Apparently the Board of directors is considering retiring Murdoch and forcing him out.

Yeah. Good luck on that.

Since his son is going to face charges and his protege and accepted heir to his place in the empire, Ms Brooks also was arrested, it is likely that this is a hostile takever from within the board.

Brooks was arrested for questioning, but not charged. And if she was his protege, she would not have quit. She's gone. It's also unlikely that his son will face charges; there's been no evidence presented that he knew more about the hacking than Brooks.

I think FOX will be sold. They need ALOT less controversy at this point.

Fox has been a lot worse, and it hasn't been sold off yet.

I think that WSJ will be sold, and personally I would like to see a employee co- op owned institution there.

Nope. It lends just a little bit of respect to the empire, and so it's not likely to go anywhere.

I think news cannot be run using a classic corporate model, because it steers the "truth" towards telling people what they want to hear, just to get a buck.

The problem is that you need the money that a corporation brings in order to be able to do anything on a meaningful scale. The problem is bringing the money in for all of those nifty exposes but letting advertisers know that they won't be able to affect the news...

RG