James Murdoch resigns from Sotheby’s board

Murdoch decided not to stand for re-election to the board in May so he can focus on News Corporation’s television business. The news came as the auction house made a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in New York.

The auctioneer said: “Sotheby’s will seek to find opportunities to continue to engage with Mr Murdoch in the areas of his expertise.”

Murdoch, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has been shedding posts to concentrate on his role in his father’s TV business as News Corp struggles to shake off the phone-hacking scandal. Last month he quit as chairman of News International and resigned from the board of drug maker GlaxoSmithKline.

Murdoch has repeatedly denied knowing about widespread phone-hacking at the News Of The World. He found himself at the centre of the scandal after it was claimed he was told that phone-hacking was more widespread at the paper than was originally admitted.

In a letter to the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee released this week, Murdoch said he had not misled parliament. Yesterday he declined to comment.