Rupert Murdoch was caught this week in the storm gathering over executive pay when he was forced to scrap an options plan for senior News Corporation management.
He told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Adelaide that he was withdrawing the proposal in the face of stiff opposition from Australian investors.
The plan would have delivered three million non-voting preferred shares at Aus$9,89 to a few executives. The shares closed on Wednesday at Aus$10,31.
By the standards of corporate America the figures are not overly generous. But Murdoch said the proposal faced certain defeat, something he later told reporters had arisen out of ”some crazy misunderstanding”.
In his address he also said his retirement plans had been put on hold ”for ever”. The speech set an ambitious earnings growth target, averaging 20% in the next few years.
He described advertising bookings for the United States TV business in the coming year as ”sensational” and noted the group’s successes of the past year, including the satellite service Star TV turning its first full-year profit.
Murdoch said the company was on target to achieve ”high single to low double-digit” earnings growth this year. — Â