News Corp
(ASX:NWS) has settled a lawsuit with shareholders over the British phone-hacking scandal, agreeing to pay $US139 million.
The court-approved settlement brings an end to a lawsuit in which shareholders alleged that News Corp directors ignored a number of red flags about the extent of the hacking.
The shareholders alleged the directors failed to act until the scandal broke in 2011 after British authorities reopened an investigation into News of the World.
Defence lawyers rejected the allegations, and the company settled the case without admitting any wrongdoing.
Lawyers say the cash settlement is the largest in a shareholder derivative lawsuit, in which stockholders file suit on behalf of a company against its corporate leaders.
News Corp generated a net profit of $4.6 billion in the first half of the current financial year.
