Murdoch spoke briefly as he entered the last day of the annual Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, even as a deepening phone hacking scandal threatens the British operations of his media company, News Corp. Walking with his wife, Wendi, and his son, Lachlan, Murdoch said he had no further comment on the situation.
Earlier this week, Murdoch’s younger son and deputy chief operating officer of News Corp. announced the company would close London-based “News of the World,” the tabloid at the center of the hacking scandal.
The crisis has led to the arrest of the former editor of the News of the World, Andy Coulson, who was also a top aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron. It also threatens News Corp.’s takeover of broadcaster BSkyB.
The conference ended Saturday after a talk by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, giving Murdoch time to fly to England for the last day of publication of “News of the World” on Sunday if he chooses.
The tabloid, bought by Murdoch in 1969, was Murdoch’s first newspaper acquisition in Britain. Murdoch has gone on to build a global newspaper empire through acquisitions such as the London Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Murdoch was heading to London on Saturday to take charge of dealing with the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World, as journalists prepared the paper's final edition. The News Corp. chief was expected to arrive in Britain on Sunday, a company source said.
Murdoch has been keen to limit the fallout from the crisis at the tabloid which has cast a shadow over his bid to take full control of satellite broadcaster BSkyB, on which the government is due to decide soon.
Many journalists at the News of the World's offices were wearing black as they prepared the final edition, which will be published on Sunday, the paper's Political Editor David Wooding wrote on Twitter.
As he made his way to work, News of the World Editor Colin Myler said: "It's a very sad day. I'm thinking about my team of talented journalists."