Lebedev's 'Independent' Takes Swipe at Murdoch

Only a few weeks into ownership of his latest British paper, Russian billionaire banker and former KGB officer Evgeny Lebedev already has seen The Independent giving a big competitor a poke in the eye.

The occasion was the recent elections, in which Murdoch's papers backed the Conservatives. So did London's Evening Standard, which Lebedev acquired last year. But his Independent urged support for the Liberal Democrats. And its recent ad campaign ran the slogan, "Rupert Murdoch won't decide this election - you will."

That brought an angry son James Murdoch into the Indy offices, according to the Guardian. Lebedev played down the incident and insisted he doesn't interfere with his editors.