Rupert Murdoch: If I went under a bus, who will take over as CEO?
The 80-year-old News Corp chairman was in fine form in a conference call. If the above were to happen, Chase Carey will get it . . but they both still have full confidence in James
The question came in a conference call at the end of News Corp's quarterly earnings report in New York . Murdoch's answer brought laughter from News Corp executives.
"The board and I believe I should continue in my current role as chairman and CEO but make no mistake, Chase Carey and I run this company as a team," he said.
"Chase is my partner. If anything happened to me, I'm sure he'd get it immediately, I mean if I went under a bus." But he then added, "Chase and I have full confidence in James. But you know, in the end, succession's a matter for the board."
Might there be changes in the News Corp board? Murdoch responded that he “doesn’t plan changes”— and he didn’t agree that his independent directors were not, in fact, independent
What measures is the company taking elsewhere to sniff out similar activity to the phone hacking at News of the World? Murdoch said “we’re cooperating with all investigations. … We are totally committed to absolute transparency throughout the whole company.”
What is being done to ensure future misdeeds come to the CEO’s attention faster than those in the U.K. allegedly did?
Murdoch said “In retrospect, we should have continued investigating” after the first two arrests and convictions in 2007 to avoid further illegal activity by its journalists.
The conference call ended with a heated question regarding the board’s decision that Murdoch would continue on as the company’s CEO—"a decision made by a board composed primarily of Murdoch's family members, employees, and old cronies," said Adweek magazine.
Before the reporter got to his actual question, Murdoch interrupted and said, “That’s not true.”
Murdoch said Viet Dinh—a former government attorney, a close friend of Murdoch’s son, and godfather to one of Murdoch’s grandchildren—was a “completely independent director.” With that, the call then came to an abrupt end.