New York Times
Jeremy Peters points out that News Corp. independent directors include people with deep and personal ties to Rupert Murdoch, including the godfather of his grandson and a former Goldman Sachs president who helped News Corp. broker deals. Another ran Murdoch’s News Limited in Australia. Peters writes: “Corporate governance experts said that the long history between News Corporation and many of its independent directors is a glaring example of how chumminess in the boardroom can allow and even contribute to mismanagement.” Lucy P. Marcus, who writes about corporate governance issues for the Harvard Business Review blog network, tells Peters:
I keep watching this and thinking that they don’t realize we can see them. The reason we have corporate governance is not because it’s a nice thing to do. It’s because if you actually have a robust board, it can be beneficial. I don’t think News Corp. would be in the same trouble that they are in now if they had an independent board.”
The board meets today and News Corp. reports earnings on Wednesday.
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