What should a CEO know?

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Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corp, has run full page apologies for the voice mail hacking incidents that prompted him to shut down his News of the World.

But today Murdoch explained to a committee of the British Parliament that the paper was less than 1 percent of a corporation that employees 53,000 people.

And he appears to have been been ignorant of most of the things that have been going on — even the stuff that was public, and his son James repeatedly offered to answer questions as it became clear how little his father knew.

“I can address these in some detail if you would allow me,” James said.

“I will come to you Mr. Murdoch, but it’s your father who is responsible for corporate governance that I’d like to ask what he knew.”

And so the elder Murdoch was asked the big question: Was he responsible for what happened on his watch?

“Mr. Murdoch, do you accept that ultimately, you are resposible for this whole fiasco?”

“No,” replied a difiant Murdoch.

“You’re not responsible. Who is responsible?”

“The people that I trusted, and then maybe, the people they trusted.”

So here it is again. Enron, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual — here apparently is another example of a company too big to control.

With a man at the top who has no clue what’s going on below him.

Governments have given corporations the same rights as persons… but if we’re really going to pursue that analogy, then, as with a person, the head is considered responsible for the actions of the rest of the body – even if that body is too bloated to see below its belt.

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