State Street Corp., the custodial bank that runs the S&P 500 ETF Trust, voted against re-electing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and two of his sons to board positions at News Corp. and Twenty-First Century Fox in the most recent election.
The Boston asset manager is among the 10 largest shareholders of both Twenty-Five Century Fox and News Corp., according to the Boston Business Journal, which cited regulatory filings.
Despite State Street’s votes last year, Murdoch and sons Lachlan and James won shareholders’ approval for reappointment to both boards by a wide margin last November. State Street’s votes were revealed late last month, when asset managers are required to make their proxy votes public.
The reasons for State Street's votes are not clear. Asset managers like State Street make proxy decisions in accordance with guidelines they set. A State Street spokesman declined to comment on the matter, saying the company does not typically publicly discuss the reasoning behind individual proxy votes.
State Street also voted against News Corp. board member Joel Klein and Fox board members Chase Carey and David DeVoe.
Separately, Twenty-First Century Fox joined a court challenge on Tuesday against rival U.S. cable network CBS Corp.'s proposed buyout of struggling Australian television broadcaster Ten Network Holdings Ltd., Reuters reported.
Ten is a ratings laggard that went into administration three months ago after long declines in viewership and advertising revenue.
Documents released on Monday by the administrator show CBS, the free-to-air network's major creditor, is prepared to pay at least A$201.1 million ($162 million) in cash for Ten.
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