Fierce lobbying among Bancroft factions

Dennis Berman and Sarah Ellison of The Wall Street Journal write in a second story Wednesday that there has been serious lobbying within the Bancroft family that controls parent company Dow Jones & Co. about whether to support or reject the $5 billion offer from News Corp. They wrote, “Even so, a company statement late […]

Details of Murdoch's letter to Dow Jones board emerge

Wall Street Journal reporters Dennis Berman and Sarah Ellison had details Wednesday of the letter that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch sent to the Dow Jones & Co. board about his plans for the owner of The Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch should his $5 billion offer be accepted. Berman and Ellison wrote, “The vision he […]

Who owns WSJ matters to journalists, but not Wall Street

Allan Sloan writes in Wednesday’s Washington Post that journalists care about who owns The Wall Street Journal, but most people on Wall Street probably don’t. Sloan, Newsweek’s Wall Street editor, wrote, “There’s a real difference between journalistic giants and stock market pygmies. That’s the lesson of Monday’s $5 billion hostile offer by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. […]

Dow Jones shareholders expect auction of company

Leon Lazaroff and Cecile Daurat of Bloomberg News write that News Corp.’s $5 billion offer to acquire Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch, will spur an auction of the company, according to some of its shareholders. They wrote, “‘We’re in the first inning,’ said Lawrence J. Haverty Jr., associate […]

Murdoch's timing is impeccable

New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera writes for Wednesday’s paper that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion bid for Wall Street Journal owner Dow Jones & Co. is impeccable in its timing. Nocera noted that Dow Jones replaced its CEO slightly more than a year ago, and yet the stock price has done […]

Why the Wall Street Journal is worth more than other papers

David von Drehle has a great analysis on Time magazine’s web site about why Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion offer for Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, values the newspaper at a much higher price than other papers. Von Drehle wrote, “The Journal is not like other newspapers. About the only […]

New WSJ managing editor's liberal roots

Cindy Lampner and former Wall Street Journal reporter Dean Rotbart have an interesting piece on the NewsBios web site about new Journal managing editor Marcus Brauchli’s liberal parents. They wrote, “Marcus’s father, Christopher, earned his law degree at the University of Colorado after graduating from Harvard University. The elder Brauchli is a former President of the […]

Deal or no deal? Bancroft family says no deal

Dow Jones & Co. issued a statement after the markets closed saying that a member of the Bancroft family, which controls more than 60 percent of the stock in the company, is not interested in selling the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and Marketwatch to News Corp. for $5 billion. The release stated, […]

A look into the future?

The Gothamist web site already has a look at what could happen if News Corp. does acquire Dow Jones & Co.:

GE could enter bidding for Dow Jones

Russ Britt, the Los Angeles bureau chief for Marketwatch, writes Tuesday that General Electric Co. might be forced to make an offer for Dow Jones & Co., to prevent rival News Corp. from buying the owner of The Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch and Barron’s. GE is the parent company of NBC and business news cable […]