Foreign Investors' Voting Rights Suspended by News Corp. in FCA Compliance

Logo of the Fox Broadcasting Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Foreign shareholders of Class B Common Stock in News Corp. have temporarily had their voting rights suspended to enable the media conglomerate to comply with the Federal Communications Act (FCA) regulation that limits to 25 percent the ownership and voting authority of non-American investors in broadcast stations.

As reported by the New York Times and Wall St. Journal among others, News Corp.'s foreign investors owned roughly 36 percent of the company's Class B shares, necessitating the move. Foreign shareholders still receive dividends and distributions, despite the loss of voting privileges.

News Corp. CEO and chair Rupert Murdoch is an American citizen, but his family, which holds nearly 40 percent of News Corp.'s voting shares, will not vote a portion of its shares. Among the media giant's holdings are 27 television stations nationwide and Fox Broadcasting.

The News Corp. board of directors okayed an immediate suspension of half of foreign investors' voting rights. The vigilant, but ever-playful "TUOL" staff can't help but wonder  if the Murdoch media empire learned of the FCA breach by hacking into FCC commissioners' telephone conversations.