Rupert Murdoch's iron grip on News Corp dealt a blow At the meeting, those backing the resolution had called for Mr Murdoch to surrender his position as chairman of the company, and for an overhaul of executive pay. Much of the focus was over the share structure as investors attempted to destabilise the foundations of Mr Murdoch's power at the company. The share system creates a "massive disconnect between the voting power of shareholders and their economic interests," said a spokesman for British pension fund Hermes, one of the institutional investors. 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 - which gives superior shares more than three times the voting power of others - 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. Mr Murdoch, who remained calm and mild-mannered throughout the meeting in Los Angeles, added that the interests of his family were "absolutely" aligned with those of other shareholders. However, his protestations are unlikely to sway many of the blue-chip institutional investors, who gathered to register their anger at 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 responsible investing at Christian Brothers Investment Services, which filed the 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 shares a bigger vote on certain issues. Mr Murdoch shot back: "It hasn't worked very well for the New York Times.