Rebekah Brooks Got $17.5 Million News Corp. Exit Package

LONDON - Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News International, the U.K. newspaper unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., received a pay-off of $17.5 million (£10.85 million) following her resignation amid the phone hacking scandal last year. That is more than the previously reported $11.2 million exit package.

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The departure package for a former top executive, reported by the Guardian to be Brooks, was disclosed with U.K. financial authorities on Wednesday. The filing was made by News International, which didn't confirm that the pay-out went to Brooks.

The company said the compensation was for "loss of office." It included "various ongoing benefits," including the funding of an office in London for two years and some staff for two years.

News International said it will also cover "all legal and other professional costs" in the various phone hacking cases for Brooks "until those investigations are concluded."

News International wasn't immediately available for comment.

The company said it lost $306 million (£189.4) million on an after-tax basis for the fiscal year ended in mid-2012 amid $403 million (£250 million) in charges relating to the shutdown of the News of the World and phone hacking legal bills.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai