Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton Quits Amid Scandal

News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) announced Friday that the former chairman of its News International division, Les Hinton, has resigned from his post as the chief executive officer of Dow Jones & Co.

News Corp. has been grappling in recent days with the fallout from a phone-hacking scandal in the UK. Hinton, a 52-year veteran at the company, was chairman of News International at the time when much of the phone hacking took place at News of the World.

He has headed up Dow Jones since December of 2007.

Hinton has come under fire of late for possibly misleading a parliamentary committee, testifying in both 2007 and 2009 to the fact that the alleged misconduct was limited to just one News Corp. employee.

In his letter of resignation, Hinton defended those testimonies, stating that they were given honestly, and that in September 2009 no evidence uncovered in the companys investigation suggested the misconduct involved more than one journalist.

Hinton said if there was additional evidence uncovered, he was not made aware of it. He also apologized to those affected by the misconduct.

"The pain caused to innocent people is unimaginable. That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp. and apologize to those hurt by the actions of News of the World," Hinton said in the letter.

In a statement released by News Corp., CEO and chairman Rupert Murdoch called Hintons resignation a matter of much sadness to me, stating that few individuals have given more to this company than Les Hinton."

Earlier on Friday, Rebekah Brooks resigned from her post as chief executive of News International.

Shares of News Corp. rose 10 cents in Fridays session, closing at $16.09 a share. The stock was not active in after-hours trading.

FOX Business is owned by News Corp.