First major error of judgment was to close the 150 year old NEW OF THE WORLD PAPER, firing 200 great employees who had nothing to do with the phone-hacking scandal.
Second major error of judgment was to accept the resignations of the Wall Stree Journal publisher, Les Hinton, who had worked for Murdock for 52 years and Rebekah Brooks the head of his British operations. There was no sound business reason to let his top people go.
Third air of judgment was to scuttle his ambitions to take control of a lucrative satellite TV Company, there was no sound business reason to do that either.
Fourth and most damaging was for Murdock to go on national TV and to state "We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred ( he admitted wrongdoing). We are deeply sorry for the hurt suffered (he admitts damages here) by the individuals affected. We regret not acting faster to sort this out (admission of liability). Murdock's public damning admission of guilt has just given all of the parties who will sue him all of the evidence they need to have the courts issue large damage awards against him and his companies. It is hard to fathom how a man so brillaint can become so stupid in the end of his career. The only explanation is that senility has caught up with him in his old age. All of this could have been avoided with a good Public Relations Firm. Murdock however has doomed his empire. This story continues http://www.suntimes.com/business/6533106-420/wall-street-journal-publisher-quits-in-phone-hacking-scandal.html