Starboard files to dismantle News Corp dual listing, challenging Murdoch: Reuters

Investing.com — Activist Investor Starboard Value is seeking to challenge Rupert Murdoch’s grip on News Corp A (NASDAQ:NWSA) after filing a shareholder resolution to ditch the dual-class share structure that gives media mogul outsized voting power, Reuters reported Friday, citing unnamed sourced.

News Corp’s dual-class structure is key to Murdoch’s strong grip on the media company, giving him 40% of the voting stock despite owning only about 14% of the equity, the sources told Reuters. 

Starboard Value’s resolution, which is non-binding, comes as the activist investor believes that News Corp is trading at a discount to its asset value and could unlock over $7 billion by separating Dow Jones from its real estate division.

As of June 30, Starboard owned 7.2 million Class A shares and 8.7 million Class B shares of News Corp, equivalent to a 1.9% stake.

The company may attempt to block Starboard’s resolution from proceeding to vote its next annual shareholder meeting.

This isn’t the first time News Corp has faced calls for a break-up, or to restructure. Last year, Murdoch abandoned a proposal to reunite News Corp with Fox Corp after several main shareholders opposed the move.