NewsCorp cuts vote of non-US shareholders

By Dana Blankenhorn: Nice work if you can get it. Sell voting stock to people, then take away their voting rights.

By Peter Pham:Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch sold ~5% of his family's total stake in News Corp (NWS) on 20th November through a sale of more than 418k class A shares but he has retained 40% of class B shares while his Saudi friend Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal owns 7%. Since class A shares did not have any voting rights anyway, the Murdoch family will remain at helm of the company's affairs.

Rupert Murdoch faces stepped up pressure over control of News Corp. following a blistering report from British lawmakers on a hacking scandal but his grip on the firm is not in immediate danger, analysts say.That is because Murdoch holds the reins of the New York-based global media group through a stock structure which gives him and family members most of the voting shares in News Corp."It's impossible for shareholders to oust the management of the company," said Columbia University law professor Robert Jackson, who studies corporate governance and ethics.

News Corp. is expected to disclose it is suspending half the voting rights of its foreign shareholders to deal with an inadvertent breach of the U.S.