Benign neglect among the Bancrofts

New York Times business columnist Joe Nocera writes Saturday about the “benign neglect” among the Bancroft family members that led them to sell Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, to News Corp.

Nocera wrote, “Watching the family flail these past few months, one couldn’t help agreeing with Ms. Chelberg’s assessment: the Bancrofts simply weren’t capable of owning Dow Jones. They were barely capable of selling it. ‘We took from this asset, instead of giving to it,’ she said, speaking of the hefty dividend that cut into Dow Jones’s earnings. She, meanwhile, had spoken again to Mr. Buffett, who told her that Dow Jones would have trouble competing as an independent company. So did other experts she spoke to.

“She acknowledges that Mr. Murdoch could wreck the paper. ‘But that is a risk you would take with any new owner,’ she said. ‘He has a tremendous opportunity,â€? she continued, ‘and I don’t think he’s going to blow it. He’s going to put money in the company, he’ll grow the brand, and he can do things through his distribution channels we never could. TV? We lost that chance 20 years ago.’

“Was she happy Dow Jones had been sold? No, she said, but she had made her peace with it. ‘Ultimately, my love of The Wall Street Journal is what caused me to support the sale.’

“WHEN I went to see Mr. Murdoch the next day in New York, he succinctly made the point that Ms. Chelberg had been working toward the previous afternoon. ‘The first road to freedom,’ he said, ‘is viability.'”

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