No financial motive for closing NOTW: Murdoch

London: Media titan Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday denied that the closure of the News of the World tabloid was motivated by financial considerations.

He said he shut down the News of the World because of criminal allegations.

There has been speculation that Murdoch wanted to close the Sunday newspaper in order to merge its operations with the six-days-a-week Sun, which some have said will relaunch as a seven-day publication.

Asked by a lawmaker Tuesday whether there was a financial motive for closing the paper, Rupert Murdoch said: "Far from it."