James Murdoch quits News International

Mired in inquiries and new embarrassing revelations, James Murdoch on Wednesday quit as executive chairman of News International, the Rupert Murdoch-owned company's troubled publishing unit in the UK.

The parent company, News Corporation announced Murdoch's resignation from the post in a statement and added that he had relocated to the company's headquarters in New York.

Murdoch, 39, will continue as the deputy chief operating officer of News Corporation.

Tom Mockridge, chief executive officer of News International, will continue in his post and will report to News Corporation president and COO Chase Carey, the statement said.

Rupert Murdoch, 80, said in the statement: "We are all grateful for James' leadership at News International and across Europe and Asia, where he has made lasting contributions to the group's strategy in paid digital content and its efforts to improve and enhance governance programmes."

He added, "He has demonstrated leadership and continues to create great value at Star TV, Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia, and BSkyB. Now that he has moved to New York, James will continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations."

James Murdoch said, "I deeply appreciate the dedication of my many talented colleagues at News International who work tirelessly to inform the public and am confident about the tremendous momentum we have achieved under the leadership of my father and Tom Mockridge".

He added, "With the successful launch of the Sun on Sunday and new business practices in place across all titles, News International is now in a strong position to build on its successes in the future.

As deputy chief operating Officer, I look forward to expanding my commitment to News Corporation's international television businesses and other key initiatives across the company."

News International, which embroiled in a phone-hacking scandal, saw the arrests of several senior editors and the abrupt closure last year of the News of the World tabloid.