James Murdoch stands down from Sotheby’s board amid phone hacking scandal

James Murdoch, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is stepping down from the board of Sotheby's amid pressure over his role in Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal.

The Associated Press cited the auctioneer as saying a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that Murdoch had decided not to stand for re-election at Sotheby's May 8 annual meeting.

The reason given was that he wanted to focus on his role as deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation.

Murdoch, 39, stepped down in late February as head of News International, which runs News Corp.'s British newspaper holdings. At the time, the company said the move to New York was long-planned.

(GlobalPost reports: James Murdoch steps down as head of News International)

However, a stream of revelations over the hacking of UK crime victims and Britain's war dead "sparked a wave of public revulsion which forced the closure of the mass-selling 168-year-old News of the World," Reuters wrote, as well as prompting the arrests of several past and present executives and senior editorial figures at Murdoch papers.

James Murdoch has repeatedly denied knowing of widespread phone hacking at News, the AP wrote, though his public statements have been contradicted by former associates.

Murdoch has blamed any role he had in wrongdoing at Murdoch publications on "false assurances" given to him by subordinates.

Murdoch, 39, also resigned this year from the board of GlaxoSmithKline, according to Bloomberg, adding that he faces calls from investors to step down from the board of News Corp. and as chairman of pay-TV company British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB).

The auctioneer, meantime, reportedly said Murdoch had been "a valued member of the Sotheby's board," adding that it would "seek to find opportunities to continue to engage with Mr. Murdoch in the areas of his expertise."

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