Murdoch son 'forgot' One.Tel details

NEWS Corp heir Lachlan Murdoch has confessed he forgot crucial details of US$2m (£1.3m) bonuses to be paid to directors of failed telecoms company One.Tel in its last days. Taking the witness stand in Sydney today, Murdoch told an inquiry into the A$1bn (£345m) collapse that he did not question the trigger points for the bonuses because he suspected he had forgotten the correct figures.

One.Tel directors Jodee Rich and Brad Keeling received US$1m each when One.Tel's market capitalisation reached A$1bn, and were to receive another US$1m each if the company's value rose to A$2bn.

But Murdoch and his friend James Packer, also a One.Tel director, renegotiated that figure upwards. Murdoch said he believed they had negotiated a new trigger of A$3bn but did not ask any questions when the bonuses were paid after One.Tel's market value reached only A$2.4bn.

'I assumed that my memory of 15 February [when the negotiations took place] was inaccurate,' Murdoch told the inquiry. He also said he had been persuaded to invest in One.Tel by James Packer after having dinner with him in 1999.

'He suggested a company like News combined with PBL [the Packer flagship], if it entered the telecommunications market, a great deal of value could be added,' Murdoch said. 'I told Mr Packer I agreed and it was an interesting concept.'

The Packers and Murdochs lost an estimated A$950m between them on One.Tel, which failed in May last year. The inquiry continues.