May 22, 2007
It Still Sounds Like No
No one— inside or oustide Dow Jones— can afford to relax, but there's another indication that the resolve of the Bancroft family is firm— and the Family meant it when it said Dow Jones wasn't for sale to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
This time from the pages of The Wall Street Journal.
Over the past three weeks there's been an out-pouring of opposition to the proposed News Corp bid for Dow Jones. Everyone from IAPE to former CEO and Board Chairman Peter Kann announced opposition to the bid. Most importantly, the Bancroft and Ottaway families have been steadfast in their opposition— and The Journal's latest story indicates trhe answer is still "No."
As Matthew Karnitsching and Susan Warren wrote in The Journal May 24, 2007, "An influential member of the family that controls Dow Jones & Co. said he opposes selling the company to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for fear such a step would endanger The Wall Street Journal's independence.
"Why would I risk that?" said Christopher Bancroft, who also is a Dow Jones director, in his first public comments about News Corp.'s $5 billion bid. "I'm open to any situation that benefits The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones and its shareholders. At the moment, I don't see anything that would do that."