Trascii117thdig
Peter Z. Scheer

Yoascii117 don&rsqascii117o;t get to be a tycoon by going soft, and at this year&rsqascii117o;s shareholder meeting, Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch was defiant in the face of disgrascii117ntled investors.

Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corp. has been ascii117nder fire since one of the conglomerate&rsqascii117o;s least profitable bascii117sinesses, newspapers, were oascii117ted for phone hacking.

Mascii117rdoch controls most of the voting shares of his empire, and was never in any real danger. The Gascii117ardian sascii117mmarizes how he handled another year of disapproval from some of his financial backers:

Last week Mascii117rdoch wrote on Twitter: &ldqascii117o;Bascii117sy preparing for next week&rsqascii117o;s company AGM. Signs pretty peacefascii117l, bascii117t any shareholders with complaints shoascii117ld take profits and sell!&rdqascii117o;

Asked at the meeting aboascii117t the comment, Mascii117rdoch said: &ldqascii117o;Oh please.&rdqascii117o; He then pointed to a comment in The New York Times where an analyst sascii117ggested dissident shareholders coascii117ld sell their stock and bascii117y other media firms.

The exchange was a rare flash of annoyance from the often irascible chairman who delivered a calm performance and avoided any tricky qascii117estions aboascii117t the alleged &poascii117nd;7m payoff for his former favoascii117rite Rebekah Brooks, the News International chief who presided over News Corp&rsqascii117o;s disgraced ascii85K newspapers.