Ending 2007 with, yes, an item about Murdoch and Dow Jones

Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times has his toasts and roasts to the top people in the deal-making world in 2007, and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch makes it onto both lists.

Sorkin wrote, “To Rupert Murdoch, who did the impossible, again. You bought virtually the only asset in the world that wasn’t for sale.

“And you did it without having to raise your bid. Granted, the price might never make financial sense, and you were negotiating with the gang-that-can’t-shoot-straight. But for you, the asset is priceless. Now please don’t mess it up.

“Having said that, here’s another nomination.

“Also to Rupert Murdoch. Out of politeness, I stopped myself from laughing when you made this remark while I was sitting on your couch last spring: ‘I don’t want to be in a position of putting one Bancroft against another Bancroft. I’m not in the business of stirring up trouble in the family.’

“Only you could say that with a straight face.”

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