Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg is sticking up for billionaire mogul Rupert Murdoch as shareholder activists try to depose the aging News Corp. chairman.

Among News Corp.'s larger investors are New York City's five pension funds, which collectively own a $92 million chunk of the company. And New York City Comptroller John Liu, who manages the funds, is joining a shareholder revolt that seeks to oust Murdoch, his two sons James and Lachlan, and a number of other Murdoch cronies from the company's board on account of all the lying to Parliament and running their British newspapers like a massive criminal conspiracy.

But according to Politico's Ben Smith, Bloomberg tried to put the kaibosh on Liu's move:

Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna confirmed that the mayor, who has been a close Murdoch ally and who also has a representative on the pension fund boards, opposed the move.

"We don't think politics should play a role in these types of decisions," he said.

Murdoch's New York Post, Smith notes, has been hostile to Liu in the past, and Liu has returned the sentiment. How petty, to let politics influence these types of decisions.

[Image via Getty]