NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Media baron Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS) announced Sunday that Tom Mockridge, chief executive officer of its British newspaper subsidiary News International, has decided to step down at the end of 2012 'to pursue outside opportunities.'
Mockridge took over the reigns of the division in July 2011 following the sudden resignation of Rebekah Brooks amid a phone-hacking scandal at the now defunct 168-year old 'News of the World' tabloid.
'For nearly 22 years, it has been my pleasure to have Tom Mockridge as a colleague. Whether it was his early days with our newspaper group in Australia, his incredible work building SKY Italia, or his steadfast leadership of News International, Tom has always been a skilled executive and a trusted friend,' News Corp.'s 81-year-old Chairman and CEO Murdoch said in a statement.
'His decision to step down is absolutely and entirely his own. I am sorry to see him leave us but I know he will be a great success wherever he goes,' Murdoch added.
The move comes after reports emanated on the plan to name Robert Thomson, Editor-in- Chief of Dow Jones, as CEO of News Corp.'s proposed publishing spinoff. News Corp. veteran Mockridge was also seen to be in the running for the position.
New York-based News Corp. had revealed its plans in June to pursue the separation of its publishing and entertainment businesses into two distinct publicly-traded companies. The proposed move was also authorized by the company's board in late June.
The company said at that time that it expects to complete the separation in about 12 months, with the separation not to affect Murdoch family's control over any of the businesses, as it owns roughly 40 percent voting stake in News Corp.
News Corp. is currently in the process of restructuring its operations after its British newspaper division got involved in the embarrassing phone hacking scandal that finally led to shuttering of its 'News of the World' tabloid and the arrest of Brooks in July 2011.
Mockridge joined News International, following the arrest of Brooks, from Sky Italia where he was CEO since launch in 2003. He was also CEO European Television of News Corp., overseeing News Corp.'s television operations in Europe, outside of the UK.
Prior to joining Sky Italia, Mockridge was CEO of the publicly-listed New Zealand company, Independent Newspapers, and chairman of Sky New Zealand. He previously held various roles at Star Group Ltd. and spent three years as CEO of Foxtel, News Corp.'s Australian pay TV joint venture from 1997 to 2000.
Mockridge joined News Corp. in January 1991 at its Australian newspaper company News Ltd. Prior to that, he was a spokesperson in the Australian government. He began his career as a newspaper journalist in New Zealand. He also serves on the Boards of BSkyB and Sky Deutschland and is Chairman of Fox Turkey.
NWS closed Friday's regular trading session at $25.22, down $0.06 or 0.24% on a volume of 2.50 million shares.
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© 2012 AFX News
