Zannino and Hinton swap places

Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times takes a look Friday at why Dow Jones & Co. CEO Richard Zannino is leaving and at the background of new CEO Les Hinton.

Perez-Pena wrote, “Mr. Zannino said the choice to leave was his; others at Dow Jones were divided as to whether that was so, while some said the decision was mutual. Mr. Murdoch has a history of putting his loyalists atop newly acquired operations. At the same time, Mr. Zannino and people who work with him have said that he has no desire to be running one unit— even a large one — of a much larger corporation.

“Mr. Zannino is also in line for a financial windfall when he leaves, under a change-of-control provision Dow Jones adopted last summer. His exit package is worth more than $26 million, including $3.4 million in severance pay and nearly $7 million in shares, according to estimates from James F. Reda & Associates, a consulting firm.

“Mr. Hinton, 63, a former reporter who has worked under Mr. Murdoch since the 1960s, has cut costs at News Corporation’s British papers and more tightly integrated their operations — experience that could help fold Dow Jones into its new parent.

“His experience ranges from stints at one of News Corporation’s most serious papers, The Times, to working at some of its raciest. He endured a recent press scandal involving a News of the World reporter being jailed for intercepting the voice mail of some of the royal family’s staff.”

Read more here.