Murdoch faces shareholder crunch vote on chairman role
PROXY advisory group ISS has urged Twenty-First Century Fox shareholders to vote against the reelection of chairman Rupert Murdoch and some other board members at a shareholders meeting this month, criticising the company’s adoption of a poison pill.
News Corp in May put in place a poison pill provision for one year after the splitting off its media and entertainment businesses, seeking to prevent hostile takeovers. It will be triggered if someone acquires more than 15 per cent of the stock of either company.
Saying the company should have put the plan to a shareholder vote, Institutional Shareholder Services called for an independent board chairman to replace Murdoch.
It also recommended voting against his sons James and Lachlan Murdoch, 21st Century Fox executive Chase Carey, as well other nominees David DeVoe, Alvaro Uribe and others.
Twenty-First Century Fox countered that the current board had delivered good returns for shareholders and had strengthened corporate governance.