News Corp. Shareholders Sue Company Over Phone Hacking Scandal

Rupert Murdoch is watching as his News Corp. media conglomerate unravels and now word is surfacing that some of the company’s major shareholders have filed a lawsuit against News Corp. The suit alleges that board members knew for more than a decade that some of their US subsidiaries were engaging and even encouraging illegal hacking, not just on phones but also regarding competitor’s computers.

According to several different investment funds involved in the lawsuit, the News Corp. board “has not lifted a finger” to stop hacking attempts and therefore they have exposed investors to “undue legal risk.”

The specific lawsuit in question regards News Corps’ News America Marketing and NDS Group units. The former publishes advertising inserts for Sunday editions of newspapers and is already fighting five lawsuits for anti-competitive behavior, including computer hacking.

In one document a competitor alleges that the company’s CEO promised to “destroy” him if he got in News America’s way, telling the CEO “I work for a man who wants it all, and doesn’t understand anybody telling him he can’t have it.”

Since the News Of The World phone hacking scandal broke shares in News Corp managed to fall at one point by more than 25% while Rupert Murdoch and the rest of his family members continued testifying about their company’s practices in front of various investigative boards around the world.

Do you think shareholders should be suing News Corp. over their despicable business practices? The fact that this company is allowed to still exists amazes me beyond belief.