News Corp. in $139 Million Settlement With Shareholders

As News Corporation continues to negotiate settlements with victims of a phone-hacking scandal within its British newspaper division, its board reached a $139 million settlement with a group of United States shareholders.

The group had asserted that News Corporation’s board — led by Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive — breached its fiduciary responsibility in handling the crisis in Britain. The lawsuit also asserted that the company unethically paid $670 million in 2011 to acquire the Shine Group, the television production company of Murdoch’s daughter, Elisabeth Murdoch. The suit was filed by Amalgamated Bank, the largest union-owned bank in the United States, which handles large-scale labor and pension funds. News Corporation will not pay any of the $139 million settlement. Rather, the company will receive a payment from insurance that protects corporate boards from this type of litigation. News Corporation indicated that the settlement would move it one step closer toward distancing itself from the hacking imbroglio that erupted in 2011. “We are pleased to have resolved this matter,” News Corporation said.