Murdoch facing rough ride at AGM over hacking

A STORMY meeting is expected at the AGM of BSkyB at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on Tuesday as chairman James Murdoch resists calls to resign over ongoing speculation regarding his role in phone hacking at the News of the World.

The son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who serves as deputy chief operating officer at News Corp, BSkyB’s controlling shareholder, earlier survived a 35 per cent shareholder rebellion over his re-election to the board of News Corp in California.

But organisations such as lobby group Pensions & Investment Research Consultants and the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum oppose Murdoch’s re-election on the grounds that he is not independent enough and may damage the company’s public image by association. The Association of British Insurers has also raised concerns.

It is understood most shareholders still support Murdoch. Nick Ferguson, BSkyB’s deputy chairman, said Murdoch had acted with “integrity” and possesses “excellent” strategic insight.

Martin Gilbert, the chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management who was appointed as a non-executive director of BSkyB last week, will not attend the meeting on Tuesday because of other commitments. But sources close to Gilbert said “he feels quite strongly that the minority and independent shareholders will have a stronger voice”.