Still reeling from the phone hacking scandal that shook his global news empire this year, Rupert Murdoch found himself sobbing for long-time Australian News Ltd CEO John Hartigan, who announced his departure earlier this week.

It remains unclear if Murdoch's assumption of News Ltd's chairmanship will be permanent or transitional in nature but a company release had indicated that news mogul will eased out Hartigan while Foxtel chief is set to be named as new News Ltd chief executive.

In turn, his Foxtel duties will be taken over by Richard Freudenstein, who currently steers The Australian newspaper as its CEO.

According to Agence France Presse (AFP), Hartigan described his four-decade employment with Murdoch as 'an unbelievable journey' and indicated that his sudden exit from the executive post was mostly prompted by retirement concerns.

News Ltd releases had hinted that Hartigan, who rose from being a Sydney reporter to editing duties in numerous Murdoch publications, will celebrate his 64th birthday this week but company officials remained mum on the real reason why the executive relinquished all his posts in the media company.

Murdoch's global media companies came under fire following the phone hacking scandal that resulted to the closing down of the UK-based News of the World, which folded up after more than a century of operations.

While most of the controversies hounded Murdoch's British newspapers, Hartigan's hold on News Ltd came into question as the Australian federal government weighed down on the news firm while hinting at the same time that the company needs to clarify many things regarding the scandal that came close to virtually shutting down the Australian tycoon's media businesses around the world.

In an internal memo that AFP said was sent to News Ltd employees, Hartigan declared that it was "time to hand over to the next generation" and recalled the "great spirit at News ... A real conviction about what we do and enormous integrity in the way we do it. I will miss it immensely."

"In Rupert Murdoch, I have been fortunate to work for a proprietor who cares passionately about the value of journalism and the vital role free press plays in a democracy," Hartigan added in underscoring his professional relationship with his employer.

On his part, Murdoch said in a statement that Hartigan "has been an outstanding reporter, an editor with few peers and an inspiring executive. Few people have contributed as much as John to the quality of journalism in Australia."

"John's decision ends a distinguished 41-year career with News in which he has given us exemplary service and incredible leadership," the media mogul was reported by AFP as saying in his statement.