75% per cent of 'free' News Corp votes withheld from Murdoch sons
The vote is in. And it is truly embarrassing for the Murdoch family . The tally of shareholder votes from the News Corp. annual meeting in Los Angeles last week showed 14 percent of the votes cast opposed re-electing Rupert Murdoch to the board of his own company.
James Murdoch
More than one-third of the votes - 35 percent - were cast against his son James Murdoch, who's been at the forefront of the company during the News of the World phone hacking scandal. James's brother Lachlan, Australia-based, fared only slightly better - 34 percent of the votes cast were against his reelection.
"The totals look worse when you consider that the Murdochs control some 40 percent of the voting shares of the company, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a significant portion of the stock, is allied with the family," said Adweek magazine.
Wall Street Journal Marketplace Editor Dennis K. Berman, tweeted, "Discounting votes held by Murdoch family and Prince Alwaleed, 75% of shareholders withheld their votes from James and Lachlan Murdoch."
The Wall Street Journal said the re-elections of James and Lachlan to the board " drew heavy opposition."
James, deputy chief operating officer, received 433 million votes in favor of his re-election, according to a securities filing. But about 232 million shares were cast against him. About 224 million votes were cast against the re-election of his brother Lachlan.