Fairfax Media has apologised and paid a settlement to former Leighton Holdings chief executive Wal King in an out-of-court settlement of a defamation action brought by the businessman over bribery allegations made against him in articles published in 2013.
The media company on Wednesday published a retraction and apology to Mr King for articles, published in the Australian Financial Review and other Fairfax publications in October 2013, that alleged that when Mr King was chief executive of Leighton, he knew of alleged corporate misconduct, including the payment of a $42 million bribe in Iraq.
The apology, run in Fairfax publications, said the company accepted that the allegations were false and unreservedly withdrew them and apologised to Mr King.
Mr King was also paid an undisclosed amount for damages and legal costs.
Mr King has agreed to drop his defamation action against Fairfax and released a statement on the settlement.
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"I always knew that the facts would justify my claims that the allegations against me were false," Mr King said.
"I can now concentrate on my business interests without the distraction of what was a baseless and highly defamatory attack on my reputation."
Mr King was the chief executive of Leighton Holdings, now known as CIMIC Group, from 1987 until December 2010.
