CEO Lex Fenwick’s surprise exit from Dow Jones & Co. came after some banks and other financial clients balked at the former chief executive’s ambitious new product, DJX, which sent sales tumbling, reports Jennifer Saba of Reuters.
Saba writes, “Several sources said institutional sales have dropped significantly since the April 2013 launch of DJX, a single Web-based platform that bundles together DowJones Newswires, Factiva, the Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones products for institutional customers.
“DJX’s rigid pricing structure left little room for negotiation, and alienated some retail brokerages, banks and other financial institutions that prefer to cherry pick products and bargain on price, said the sources, who include Dow Jones customers. They did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the company.
“Dow Jones’ institutional revenue fell by $11 million in the three months ended September 30, according to the fiscal first quarter results of parent News Corp, which did not provide the total figure. Figures for the December quarter have not been disclosed ahead of News Corp’s results report on Thursday.
“A spokeswoman for News Corp declined to comment on Fenwick or the sales performance of DJX, which is still in beta. Fenwick did not respond to emailed requests for comment.”
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