By David Gardner Last updated at 9:30 AM on 3rd November 2011 Tarnished image: Rupert Murdoch apparently told his son to step down as chairman of News International, but then changed his mind Rupert Murdoch told his son James that he should step down as chairman of News International at the height of the phone-hacking scandal in the summer, it has been alleged. The 80-year-old media mogul apparently made the move at the instigation of his daughter, Elisabeth - but changed his mind after a sleepless night. The revelation appears in Vanity Fair's December issue, due out today. Writer Sarah Ellison - a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch's News Corp - said Elisabeth initially persuaded her father to remove her brother from his top job because she thought he allowed the crisis to 'spin out of control.'
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Decision was encouraged by his daughter
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Elisabeth Murdoch said her brother allowed the crisis to 'spin out of control'
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But Rupert changed his mind 'after a sleepless night'
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