Rupert Murdoch facing ‘end game’ as hack scandal worsens

Michael Wolff said “anything is now possible” and that News Corp is a company in “outright panic” as the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed the UK Government, police and media now threatens to sweep through the US.

Mr Wolff, author of The Man Who Owns The News, told Channel 4 News: “Rupert Murdoch does not explain himself ever to anyone. He meets power with power. He just doesn’t have the power to meet this situation anymore.”

Former PM and Queen among hack targets

On Monday it emerged that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown‘s bank accounts may have been hacked into by journalists at News International titles, including The Sunday Times, and that his son’s medical records could also have been illegally accessed.

Mr Brown’s spokeswoman said: “Gordon Brown has now been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family’s life.

The very simple fact is that people named Murdoch have lost their entire credibility when it comes to dealing with these issues. Michael Wolff

“The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained. The matter is in police hands.”

A News International spokesman responded: “We note the allegations made today concerning the reporting of matters relating to Gordon Brown.

“So that we can investigate these matters further, we ask that all information concerning these allegations is provided to us.”

The Brown revelation followed claims that the Queen and Prince Charles were put at risk when two royal protection officers allegedly sold contact details to reporters.

Channel 4 News Political Editor Gary Gibbon said this “potentially spreads the allegations to other parts of the Murdoch UK stable”.

He said: “It will add to speculation, rampant around News International, that the Murdochs may be considering selling off all of News International in order to look after the rest of their empire and not see the whole thing go up in flames.”

Gurublog: Has Rupert Murdoch been thinking the unthinkable?

BSkyB deal in jeopardy

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has referred Mr Murdoch’s proposed takeover of the part of BSkyB he does not already own to the Competition Commission. During heated exchanges in the Commons he told MPs that the Commission would be able to consider “all relevant recent developments” in evaluating the proposed merger.

This means its inquiry will be able to take into account the police investigation of phone hacking and corruption allegations, as well as the effect on plurality of ownership.

The scale of Murdoch’s current problems are now beginning to shake the American wing of his empire, which includes Fox and the Wall Street Journal.

More from Channel 4 News: Phone-hacking, the American view

Michael Wolff told Channel 4 News: “This scandal’s been going on in the UK for almost five years, with very little interest to people in the US.

“For people in the US this scandal literally started last week, so there’s a lot of catching up to do, a lot of people trying to understand what’s going on.

I would say Rupert Murdoch is in more trouble than he has ever been in and I don’t think there’s necessarily a way out this time. Michael Wolff

“For everyone, for shareholders, for people in the media, for people on the News Corp board of directors, for other executives within the company, there is this immediate sense that something incredibly grave has happened here – so a rush to understand it, to figure it out and to assess the implications for News Corp in the US, the business and for the family.

“The very simple fact is that he has – or people named Murdoch – have lost their entire credibility when it comes to dealing with these issues. You can’t run a major company if you have no credibility.”

News of the World phone-hacking scandal: Q and A

When Jon Snow asked Mr Wolff if this was the “end game” for Murdoch, he conceded that the collapse of the 80-year-old’s media empire is now a possibility.

“You put a biographer in a very difficult position because we don’t necessarily want this story to end, but I would say Rupert Murdoch is in more trouble than he has ever been in and I don’t think there’s necessarily a way out this time,” he said.