Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of News Corporation, said: "Richard (pictured) has been a loyal and distinguished executive, primarily on The Sunday Times but most recently on The Sun, guiding it skilfully through a turbulent period.”
"I thank him for his passionate defence of our company and staff, and especially his astute counsel during the Leveson Inquiry. He is a steadfast colleague and one I have been glad to have fighting our corner."
"I am sure that Richard will continue to be a great success in whatever he decides to do for the future."
Richard said: "Rupert is a brilliant and counter intuitive leader. It has been an honour to work for him and his great newspaper titles."
Richard’s career at News UK and News International
After serving as The Sunday Times Managing Editor for 13 years, says News UK, Richard was asked to manage the widening crisis caused by voicemail interception. He was appointed Group Managing Editor of News Group Newspapers in July 2011, days before the closure of the News of the World.
He stabilised The Sun, introduced new governance and training for its staff, appointed an independent Ombudsman to the title, was a key member of the Sunday edition launch team and supported all the journalists involved in police investigations.
He also became the Lead Executive preparing News International's submissions and evidence on behalf of The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times to the Leveson Inquiry into the Culture Practice and Ethics of the Press.
During his time on The Sun and The Sunday Times he successfully restructured editorial operations to make them more efficient and more responsive to digital audiences.
On The Sun he forged a partnership with Shine's latest digital acquisition, Channel Flip, to produce video for web and apps. On The Sunday Times he assembled the team that created the multi award-winning Sunday Times iPad app in 2010 on the Woodwing platform, now known as Adobe DPS. That app release was voted the world's best newspaper app in the iMonitor awards.
Richard served in many roles on The Sunday Times, including Head of News, in charge of home news, politics, foreign news and investigations. He also launched the Driving and Home supplements.
He was a director of Times Newspapers Holdings Limited for over a decade and co-founded The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work competition, the UK's biggest survey of workplace satisfaction.
Educated at Durham University, Richard began his journalistic career in the regions before becoming a staff reporter on the Daily Mail.
