Murdoch Quits Boards of News Corp. Subsidiaries

News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has quit the boards of several company subsidiaries as part of preparations for the coming split of the media giant into two companies, News Corp. said.

The announcement suggests that Murdoch may be distancing himself from his British newspaper interests, which have been shaken to the core by a widespread phone hacking scandal. The boards include that of News International, the holding company of News Corp.'s U.K. newspapers, said a person familiar with the situation. Other boards are in the United States, Australia and India. Murdoch stepped down this past week as a director of NI Group, Times Newspaper Holdings and News Corp. Investments in the U.K., said Daisy Dunlop, spokeswoman for News Corp.'s British arm, News International. The companies oversee The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times. It was not immediately clear which of News Corp.'s U.S. boards Murdoch had left.