James Murdoch declined his $6 million bonus from News Corporation in light of the phone hacking scandal, calling it “the right thing to do.”
News Corp announced bonuses on Friday, and Murdoch explained that he would not accept “in light of the current controversy surrounding News of the World.”
“While the financial and operating performance metrics on which the bonus decision was based are not associated with this matter, I feel that declining the bonus is the right thing to do,” he said in a statement.
Rupert Murdoch has not declined his $12.5 million bonus as of yet.
Scotland Yard made its 15th arrest in connection with the phone hacking scandal on Friday, reportedly taking former News Of The World reporter Ross Hall into custody, and releasing him on bail later in the day. The man was arrested “on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages and attempting to pervert the course of justice,” according to the BBC.
Hall is reportedly the one who transcribed the crucial “for Neville” e-mail and sent it to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, one of the two people convicted of the phone hackings so far. The “Neville” in the e-mail is reportedly Neville Thurlbeck, according to The Guardian, a former senior reporter for NOTW. The e-mail, from 2005, contained transcripts of 35 hacked phone messages from then-chief of the Professional Footballers’ Association Gordon Taylor, and identified them as “the transcript for Neville.”
The question of who knew about the “for Neville” e-mail and when is central to the phone hacking investigations, as the e-mail implicates a third NOTW employee at a time when the company claimed the hackings were limited to Mulcaire and one other reporter.
Former NOTW editor Colin Myler and former legal affairs manager Tom Crone claim that James Murdoch knew about the e-mail when the settlement was made, implying that he was trying to keep the extent of the phone hacking quiet when he agreed to a six-figure settlement with Taylor.
On Tuesday, Myler and Crone will testify before a Parliamentary committee regarding their allegations that Murdoch misled Parliament when he said Crone and Myler did not inform him of the e-mail before he approved the settlement.
Former head of human resources at News International Daniel Cloke and former head of legal affairs at News International Jon Chapman are also scheduled to testify over other allegations that Murdoch misled Parliament.
On the same day, Lord Justice Leveson will hold the first preliminary hearing of his public inquiry into the phone hacking scandal, and will determine which newspapers and other organizations will be “core participants” in the inquiry. Core participants are allowed legal representation and can object to any evidence introduced during the course of the hearings.
