Fenwick out as Dow Jones CEO; company to review institutional business

Lex Fenwick, who joined Dow Jones & Co. nearly two years ago after being a Bloomberg executive, has left the company abruptly.

William Lewis, currently the chief creative officer, has been named interim CEO and plans to review Dow Jones’ institutional strategy.

Fenwick has been hired to make Dow Jones, the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch.com and Barron’s, more competitive with Bloomberg LP and Reuters.

“We thank Lex for his time and energy at the helm of Dow Jones, and in particular for his original vision of DJX as an innovative way to integrate content and deliver it to customers in a timely manner,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp., in a statement.

“We’re reviewing the institutional strategy of Dow Jones with an eye towards changes that will deliver even more value to its customers.  As part of that, we’re planning improvements to DJX, “ added Thomson, who signaled that greater flexibility in its product offerings is likely in the short term.  Dow Jones’ DJX information service has been in beta since its launch last year.

“We will also be redoubling our efforts to develop The Wall Street Journal and its digital properties globally, which continue to serve the world’s most influential readers with the most authoritative news and analysis,” said Thomson.

Lewis joined News Corp. in 2010 as Group General Manager at News International (now News UK), and was appointed chief creative officer at News Corp. by Thomson last year to build new businesses, target acquisitions and drive digital initiatives for the company.

Lewis previously served as editor-in-chief of the Telegraph Media Group in the UK, where he helped create an industry-leading, digitally integrated newsroom and pioneered web-first publishing.

Lewis also served as business editor of The Sunday Times and global news editor of the Financial Times.  As a journalist, he covered mergers & acquisitions and fund management, among other topics.