Rupert Murdoch's iron grip on News Corp 'benefits shareholders' The system, which confers more than three times more power on B-Class shares than A-Class ones, creates a "massive disconnect between the voting power of shareholders and their economic interests," a spokesman for one of the institutional investors, British pension fund Hermes, said. However, Viet Dinh, chairman of News Corp's corporate governance committee, tried to dismiss their concerns by insisting that the system was in fact for their own good. The dual-class shareholder structure exists to give "minority shareholders a greater voice rather than preventing change," and to "preserve and maximise long-term value for all shareholders," he claimed. However, his protestations are unlikely to sway many of the blue chip institutional investors, who gathered to register their anger over the dual-class shareholding system and News Corp's corporate governance standards. They took it in turns to tell Mr Murdoch that the scandal ignited by the phone hacking row at the News of the World was "not going away" and that major reform was needed. "Until the changes are structural, not cosmetic, these scandals will continue to cloud the company," said Julie Tanner, assistant director of socially respinsoble investing at Christian Brothers Investment Services, which filed a resolution calling for Mr Murdoch to be replaced by an independent chairman. Darren Brady, head of US engagement at Hermes, suggested a compromise, granting those shareholders with the less powerful A-Class shares a bigger vote on certain issues. Mr Murdoch shot back: "It hasn't worked very well for the New York Times." News Corp did not reveal the results of the proxy votes at the meeting, but is obliged to filed them with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in the next few days. They are expected to reveal considerable opposition to Mr Murdoch's position on the board of the company, but his voting power means they are highly unlikely to oust him.