Rupert Murdoch resigned from three boards of News Corp’s U.K. newspaper businesses, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Murdoch is preparing to split his empire into entertainment and publishing businesses, but will remain chairman of both and chief executive of the entertainment side.

Murdoch, 81, also stepped down as director of News Corp. Investments and Times Newspaper Holdings. 

Murdoch’s son, James, left the board of News Corp.’s newspaper companies earlier this year. 

News Corp.’s U.K. titles have been under investigation over the past year for phone hacking, payments to officials and alleged computer hacking, the Financial Times reported, leading to civil lawsuits and 70 arrests. 

Claire Enders, a media analyst at Enders Analysis, told Bloomberg that the moves are all part of a withdrawal from the U.K. 

“It’s a continued disassociation with the Murdochs as a family because, after all, James and Rupert Murdoch are not all that different in the playout of the scandal. They’ve both been heavily implicated in different ways. So this is a response.”

According to the Financial Times, News Corp. called the move “nothing more than a corporate housecleaning exercise” before the media group splits into the separate companies. 

 

 

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on Rupert Murdoch here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.