Rupert Murdoch apologises for phone hacking as he meets family of Milly Dowler | Mail Online
He said the reports of more closures were 'pure rubbish. Pure and total rubbish....give it the strongest possible denial you can give.'
Murdoch insisted that his son James, the chairman of News International, would not stand down after the bid for total control of BSkyB - which the younger Murdoch has overseen - was shelved.
News Corporation has handled the crisis 'extremely well in every way possible' making just 'minor mistakes', Murdoch said.
'I think James acted as fast as he could, the moment he could,' he added.
Murdoch said that when he hears 'something going wrong, I insist on it being put right'. He said that the company was now buying back shares in the wake of its failed BSkyB bid.
Super-rich: Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud revealed that News Corporation is likely to make a second bid for total control of BSkyB in six month
'A caring conglomerate': Interviewed on board his luxury yacht, Alsaud - who owns seven per cent of News Corp. said he has 'high ethics in business'
The defence of the embattled company came as Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth launched a scathing four-letter rant attacking Rebekah Brooks' handling of the News International phone-hacking meltdown.
The 42-year-old is understood to be 'furious' that her father's media empire has been thrown into the spotlight over the last fortnight.
WHO IS TOM MOCKRIDGE?
A key lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch, the 55-year-old New Zealander was chief executive of Sky Italy since its creation in April 2003.
He moved to Australia in 1980 where he worked for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper then between 1984 and 1991, he was a member of Australian Finance Minister Paul Keating's staff.
In 1991, he joined News Corp in Sydney as assistant to Ken Cowley, chief executive of Australian subsidiary News Ltd.
In 1997, he became chief executive of Foxtel, a pay-TV company that News Corp owned through a joint venture with Australian telecommunications company Telstra.
In 2001, he was appointed managing director of Independent Newspapers Ltd, the largest publisher of newspapers and magazines from New Zealand headed by News Corp.
He was also president of Sky New Zealand, the pay-TV group in the country.
In 2002, Mockridge led the merger between Stream and Telepiu, which brought about Sky Italy.
In 2010, a war between Sky Italia and Mediaset, Italy's largest private broadcaster, erupted when Mockridge called for the removal of 2003 legislation preventing Sky from entering the terrestrial television market.
The European Union ruled in July 2010 in Sky's favour, a position upheld by Italy's top administrative court last February.
British pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB appointed Mockridge as a non-executive director in 2009. and he had been promoted to the additional role of chief executive of European television for News Corp in 2008.
Ms Murdoch 'railed' against former News of the World editor Brooks and told friends she had 'f***** the company'.
The Murdochs have presented a united front in public but behind closed doors there are growing ructions, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Murdoch, 80, was pictured smiling as he left a restaurant in central London with his arm round Brooks following an hour-long meeting at his luxury flat last weekend.
When asked what his top priority was, Murdoch gestured at Brooks and said: 'This one'.
But her future could look uncertain as the tycoon's daughter is due to be be given a seat on the board of News Corporation alongside her brother James, the News International chairman.
The two children are likely to inherit their father's empire and the split raises the question of whether Brooks will be 'frozen out' amid a growing tide of public anger at her.
Ms Murdoch was a managing director at BSkyB but left the company in 2000 to pursue her own ventures.
She recently rejoined when News Corporation bought her production company, Shine, for £290m, in a controversial deal that saw U.S. shareholders accuse her of using the business as a 'family candy store'.
The dispute within the media empire comes as the FBI launched an investigation into allegations that News Corporation sought to hack into the phones of September 11 victims, according to a law enforcement official.
'We're looking into allegations raised by the letter by Peter King yesterday,' A FBI source said, asking not to be identified.
Earlier this week a former New York police officer claimed that he had been approached by News of the World journalists seeking the phone records British people killed in the World Trade Centre atrocity.
Murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, the family of Soham victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, dead war heroes and London bombing victims were also allegedly targeting by the organisation.
The cousin of Jean Charles de Menezes was yesterday told by police that their name was found on a hacker's list.
Meanwhile, News Corporation's second largest shareholder revealed that News Corporation's bid to buy the remaining 60 per cent in BSkyB had only been shelved and will 'come back'.
A former New York police officer has also claimed that News of the World journalists tried to pay him for phone details of British 9/11 victims
Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal Alsaud - known as the 'Arab Warren Buffet - owns seven per cent of the company compared with Murdoch's 12 per cent.
'We hope that as this thing unfolds the truth will come out,' he told BBC's Newsnight while being interview aboard his luxury yacht.
'It's very important to me and my company who have been investors in News Corp for 20 years to get this in order because ethics to me are very important' he added.
Asked about hacking into Milly Dowler's phone, Alsaud said he wanted to differentiate between the News of the World and News Corporation as a whole.
'I think we have to wait for the commission that's been appointed by the Prime Minister and look at the results,' he added in response to allegations that James Murdoch had known about illegal activity.
Asaud, who could lose hundreds of millions if News Corporation's stock market value crashes even more, said that the scandal should not be 'over-criticised'.
He said that he had spoken to his 'friends and allies' the Murdochs and told them to co-operate with the investigation.
'They know exactly my high ethics when it comes to business' he added.
'The BSkyB has been shelved right now but it's not forever. The minimum period to come back is six months and we'll have to see what happens after six months.'
As the crisis continues to unfold, yet more celebrities have come forward to reveal that they believe they have been targeted.
Ulrika Jonsson claimed last night that she was warned by a senior News of the World executive not to leave voicemail messages ‘because they can get those’.
In another development, glamour model Abi Titmuss announced that she would be suing the closed paper over fears that her phone was also hacked.
Titmuss, 35, has appointed lawyer Charlotte Harris of legal firm Mishcon De Reya, who is already representing Sky Andrew, Leslie Ash and Lee Chapman among others in their claims.
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