LONDON - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has resigned as a director of a number of News Corp subsidiary boards in Britain and the US.
Murdoch stepped down this past week as a director of NI Group, Times Newspaper Holdings and News Corp Investments in the UK, said Daisy Dunlop, spokeswoman for News Corp's British arm News International.
The companies oversee British newspapers The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.
It's not immediately clear which of News Corp's US boards Murdoch has left.
Britain's Telegraph newspaper, which first reported the news late Saturday, said those details had not yet been disclosed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
News International has sought to play down the significance of the resignations, saying in a statement "this is nothing more than a corporate housecleaning exercise prior to the company split".
That's a reference to News Corp's announcement on June 28 that it will split its publishing business from its much more profitable media and entertainment business, forming two separate companies.
Under the proposed changes, Murdoch, 81, will chair both companies, but will continue as chief executive of the media and entertainment entity only. The latest announcement suggests Murdoch may be distancing himself from his British newspaper interests, which have been shaken to the core by a widespread phone-hacking scandal.
The scandal erupted anew last year when it emerged that Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid had systematically hacked voicemails of politicians and celebrities.
The revelations have rocked Britain's establishment and triggered three parallel police investigations that have resulted in more than 40 arrests.
Illegal eavesdropping allegations at the News of the World led to the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, then-CEO of News International, who has been accused of perverting justice in the scandal.