Opera singer appointed to News Corp. board
By Leah McBride Mensching, Wednesday 7 November 2007 at 22:29 :: Management :: #821 :: rss
News Corporation has gone against the wishes of Dow Jones major shareholders the Bancroft family by appointing an opera singer with little media experience to represent the family on its board, MediaGuardian reported Wednesday.
Natalie Bancroft, 27, will join the board after News Corp. vetoed the family's nomination of Michael Hill, an environment scientist and critic of the former management of Dow Jones, according to Reuters. The Bancroft family sold its controlling shares in Dow Jones as part of the $ 5 billion sale. The Wall Street Journal, owned by Dow Jones, reported that News Corp. was unhappy with Hill's activism.
“While News Corp. is aware that other members of the family received more support from within the family, News Corp. has interviewed Natalie and elected to nominate her,” according to a letter from Dow Jones board members Elizabeth Steele and Michael Elefante obtained by the Wall Street Journal. “We trust that Natalie will endeavour to represent effectively the family's interests on the News Corp board.”
Natalie Bancroft formerly questioned the family's decision on selling.
“I am not for the selling because I believe the buyer is definitely not the right person to own this paper, but on the other hand, as protective as we are, and with much of the false pride many of us have, do we deserve to own this paper any longer?” she wrote in a letter obtained by the Journal.
The family also wanted to nominate John Carroll, formerly the editor of the Los Angeles Times, but News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch vetoed him because he was not a member of the Bancroft family, the Journal reported, according to MediaGuardian.
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