The decision by the Dow Jones & Co. board to take over negotiations with News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and other potential bidders for the company that owns The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch signals a growing rift between the Bancroft family that controls the company and the business itself, writes Sarah Ellison of The Journal.
Ellison wrote, “The move, approved by the the four board members affiliated with the Bancrofts — three family members and their attorney — is likely to speed any deal between News Corp. and Dow Jones, the owner of The Wall Street Journal, and highlights a growing rift between Bancroft family members and the company they control.
“In recent weeks, members of the Bancroft family had grown wary of any deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., and had been laboring over a proposal to safeguard the editorial independence of Dow Jones. But as the family’s negotiations with each other and their advisors continued with no resolution in sight, the company’s directors were growing increasingly concerned that by not responding to Mr. Murdoch, the family was endangering the negotiations.”
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