The chief financial officer of satellite broadcaster BSkyB is leaving the firm, three months after he was beaten to the top job by Rupert Murdoch's son.
Under the terms of his contract, Martin Stewart is not allowed to work for a Sky competitor for 12 months. Stewart will remain as CFO through August 4, or until a new CFO is found. He will also resign from the BSkyB board.
Stewart was a candidate to become chief executive after the departure of Tony Ball. The job went to James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp owns about 34% of BSkyB's shares.
The younger Murdoch's appointment was bitterly contested by institutional shareholders, who complained that he would favour News Corp's interests and was not sufficiently experienced for the job.
'It can be taken as Murdoch stamping his authority all over the firm and getting rid of the last Tony Ball ally, which is Martin Stewart, who is very highly thought of,' a London trader was quoted as saying.
