Rupert Murdoch spent more than a decade trying to gain control of DirecTV Group Inc., the nation’s leading satellite TV operator, the Los Angeles Times reports.
But the chairman of News Corp. appears willing to give that up for something he values even more: bulletproof control of his own company.
Murdoch is negotiating to swap his 38% stake in El Segundo-based DirecTV to cable pioneer John Malone for the 19% voting stake in News Corp. owned by Malone’s Liberty Media Corp., according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
