Murdoch Said to Have Plan for Shake-Up at Dow Jones

MURDOCH LINES UP HIS DOW JONES TEAM
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Frank Ahrens]
Rupert Murdoch is moving his people into place at the helm of Dow Jones and its Wall Street Journal one week before company shareholders are expected to approve the takeover bid from Murdoch's News Corp. Dow Jones announced that Richard F. Zannino, the man who had a breakfast meeting with Murdoch in March that led to the media mogul's eventual purchase of Dow Jones, would resign. When Zannino took over, he promised to raise the value and stock price of the company, which had been stuck at about $35 per share for more than a year. The biggest boost Zannino was able to give the company's stock was the buyout resulting from the meeting with Murdoch. When Murdoch's $60-per-share offer for the company became public May 1, Dow Jones stock shot from $37.12 to $56 per share in one day, pushing as high as $61.76 per share in June. Times of London editor Robert Thomson, Murdoch's adviser, will become publisher of the Journal. News Corp. executive Les Hinton will take Zannino's job as chief executive of Dow Jones. At the same time, Murdoch's youngest son, James, is set to step down as chief executive of News Corp.'s British Sky Broadcasting network in England to take over News Corp.'s entire Europe and Asia operations, likely moving him ahead of older brother Lachlan to eventually succeed their father at the top of News Corp., the person said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR200712...
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/business/media/07dow.html?ref=todayspaper

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