Prior to June 28, 2013, News Corporation was a diversified global media company with operations in several industries, including film, television, cable and satellite television, and publishing. News Corp. primarily conducted its business in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America.
On June 28, 2013, News Corp. separated into two new companies: News Corporation and Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. The new News Corp. held the company's business in newspapers, information services and integrated marketing services, digital real estate services, book publishing, digital education and sports programming and pay-TV distribution in Australia. The old News Corp. was then renamed Twenty-First Century Fox and continued to operate the company's cable, broadcast, film, pay-TV and satellite interests globally.
In July 2011, after allegations surfaced in the media that News Corp.'s newspaper, News of the World, had engaged in, among other misconduct, several instances of phone hacking and possible inappropriate payments to police officers, the company determined that the proper course of action was the close the newspaper. The allegations, however, led to governmental investigations by both U.K. and U.S. authorities. In response to the problems with News of the World, the company also created an independent committee to oversee and take responsibility for all matters in connection to the misconduct including the company's own internal investigation. Following the separation of News Corp. and Twenty-First Century Fox, the governmental investigations continued at both companies, and both companies cooperated with the authorities. The 10-K filed by News Corp. shortly after the separation confirmed that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the companies.
On January 28, 2015, the DOJ notified News Corp. that it had concluded its investigation into the News of the World misconduct and would take no further action against the company.
News Corp. reported that, from July 1, 2010 through the quarter in which the DOJ concluded its investigation, the company incurred $682 million in costs, including legal and professional fees and costs related to civil settlements, related to the News of the World investigations. Of that total, Twenty-First Century Fox agreed to indemnify News Corp. for $170 million pursuant to the separation agreement between the two companies.
