News Corporation Board Approves Split of Company

The board at News Corporation approved a proposed split into two companies, and authorized a $500 million stock buyback for investors in the soon-to-be-formed publishing business. It also announced appointments to the board for both of the companies.

The company is expected to complete its separation on June 28, with publishing assets like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and HarperCollins, and a handful of Australian pay television units, forming a company that will retain the name News Corporation. Fox Broadcasting, Fox News, FX and the Hollywood film and television studio will form an entertainment company to be called 21st Century Fox.

The announcement may do little to dispel criticism that the News Corporation board is too heavily made up of members of the Murdoch family. After the division Rupert Murdoch will serve as chairman of both companies. He will maintain his role as chief executive of 21st Century Fox. Murdoch’s two sons, James and Lachlan, will be directors of both companies. But the boards will also include new faces. Robert Thomson, as chief executive of the new News Corporation, will join the publishing company’s board, as will Ana Paula Pessoa, a partner at the public relations firm Brunswick Group; Masroor Siddiqui, managing partner of the investment firm Naya Management; and John Elkann, chairman of Fiat. Joel I. Klein, chief executive of News Corporation’s fledgling Amplify education division, will maintain a role on the company’s board.

Chase Carey, president and chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox, will join several new directors — Delphine Arnault, a French businesswoman and deputy general manager at Christian Dior Couture; Jacques Nasser, a former chief executive of the Ford Motor Company; and Robert S. Silberman, executive chairman of Strayer Education Incorporated — on the entertainment company’s board.