Murdoch will leave the board to focus on his core responsibilities as deputy chief officer at News Corp, the filing said.

The move follows demands for Murdoch's resignation after he was embroiled in the phone hacking scandal at his company.

Murdoch, son of News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, was a director on Sotheby's board for two years.

The hacking scandal exploded last July as a stream of revelations over the hacking of crime victims and Britain's war dead sparked a wave of public revulsion which forced the closure of the mass-selling 168-year-old News of the World.

Murdoch, 39, resigned from the board of GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L) in January. He also resigned as executive chairman of scandal-ridden News International, in February.

(Reporting by Durba Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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