The (U.K.) Telegraph is reporting that media mogul Rupert Murdoch has resigned from the boards of his various newspaper holdings in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Filings with both the United Kingdom Registrar of Companies and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicate the resignations were made within the past week.

Though a News Corporation spokesman called Murdoch’s departure from that company board, as well as NI Group, Times Newspaper Holdings and News Corp Investments, “nothing more than a corporate housecleaning exercise prior to the company split,” there is speculation mounting that it means he and his son James, at one time mentioned as a potential successor, could be on their way out from News Corp entirely.

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“James and Rupert have decided that they are not welcome in the UK, and they’re right,” said Claire Enders at Enders Analysis. “There is an enforced emotional withdrawal from these assets because they are no longer useful [in terms of influence].”

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