Categories: OLD Media Moves

WSJ pulls Bitcoin story after investor denies involvement

The Wall Street Journal pulled a story about Bitcoin and Monday and issued a retraction after an investor denied involvement in the company.

The correction states:

Investor Joe Lewis isn’t investing in a bitcoin venture called Avalon and doesn’t lead a Zurich-based private-equity fund called the Phoenix Fund. An article on the supposed investment was inaccurately published and has been removed.

Lewis issued a release that stated:

Noted private investor and trader Joe Lewis is not backing any Bitcoin ventures, as previously reported today.
“I have no investments whatsoever in any Bitcoin ventures,” said Lewis.
A story widely reported in several publications inaccurately stated that Lewis is supporting the virtual currency through Phoenix Fund, a fund with no affiliation to Lewis or Tavistock Group.
“Unfortunately, many immature investments and investors would like the association of private investors like Joe Lewis. They bring instant credibility,” said Douglas McMahon, senior managing director of Tavistock Group, a private investment organization founded by Lewis.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.