Accounting Gimmickry Diminishes Old Man's Nest Egg

Kind of a good news/bad news situation for Rupert Murdoch. The Wall Street Journal reports that the media mogul's "salary, bonus and stock compensation rose about 9% in the company's last fiscal year to $27.1 million, according to the company's proxy statement. However, Mr. Murdoch's overall compensation fell 14% because of an accounting change that eroded the value of his retirement savings."

The value of Murdoch's pension plan actually rose 6.9% in the previous fiscal, "but News Corp. said in the filing it changed the discount rate used to calculate its pension plan." Murdoch is probably untroubled by the reduced value of his retirement funds, since he will never ever ever retire. Or die.