Tusday, January 20, 2004
CanWest says Conrad Black to leave its board
[Conrad Black] LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) –
CanWest Global
Communications says press baron Conrad
Black and longtime Hollinger executive
David Radler will leave the board of directors following their involvement in a high-profile controversy over unauthorised payments.
The Winnipeg, Manitoba-based broadcaster and newspaper publisher,
Canada’s No. 1 media group, said on
Tuesday that Black and Radler will not seek re-election as directors at CanWest’s annual meeting in Montreal on January
29.
Black, a
Canadian-born member of the House of
Lords, resigned as chief executive of
Hollinger International in November
after a special board committee
uncovered $32.2 million (17.7 million
pounds) in unauthorised payments to
him, Radler, other executives, and the
parent company.
Chicago-based Hollinger, the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, the Chicago
Sun-Times and Jerusalem
Post, said Black and Radler each received about $7.2 million in unauthorised payments.
Black and Radler joined the CanWest board in November, 2000, when CanWest bought most of Hollinger’s Canadian newspapers for C$3.2 billion (1.4 billion pounds).
The Asper family, which is CanWest’s controlling shareholder, in consultation with CanWest’s board, said it will soon announce who they will put forward to replace Black and Radler.