Rupert Murdoch apologized for the phone hacking scandal, but defended his company against angered investors at the News Corporation's shareholder meeting on Friday, the New York Times reports.

News Corp. investors demanded governance changes and limits to family control at the company's annual meeting in Los Angeles, but their efforts fell short, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Murdoch opened the floor to investors' questions at the meeting, answering them defensively and promising to make things right.

Murdoch, 80, and his son and heir apparent James Murdoch, who together hold 40 percent of the controlling votes, will remain on the board, reports the Irish Times.

In response to particularly severe criticism by Tom Watson, the Labour MP who has spearheaded the investigation into News of the World, Murdoch said he was "personally determined" to right any wrongs made by his organization, reports The Independent.

According to the Herald Sun, News Corp. confirmed the same day that it would pay the family of Milly Dowler, the murdered girl whose phone was hacked by News of the World, $4.6 million, approximately $1.6 million of that coming from Mr. Murdoch himself.

More than 100 protesters gathered outside the meeting at 20th Century Fox Studios, chanting that the News Corp. board must go, reports the Washington Post.

More from GlobalPost: A "humble" Murdoch accepts no blame in phone hacking