Once Again, Murdoch’s Siren Song
ONCE AGAIN, MURDOCH'S SIREN SONG
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: David Carr]
Now that some of the commotion has eased, it might be worth a few minutes to examine the Dow Jones proposal bearing in mind Rupert Murdoch’s unique business DNA. 1) First, the deal will be made at some point, regardless of what the Bancroft family said last week. Brute-force capital, like flood waters, always finds a way to break through. 2) Despite his allaying words to the contrary, Mr. Murdoch would operate The Journal, including its editorial operations, as he sees fit. As Mr. Murdoch himself has said throughout his relentlessly acquisitive career, he buys things to run things. 3) There is business synergy in the deal — between the News Corporation’s proposed Fox Business cable TV channel and The Journal, for example. But far more important is Mr. Murdoch’s own version of synergy, which puts business, media and government all in a single vertical. Owning The Journal would give him a powerful leverage in all three. 4) The price that Mr. Murdoch is offering — $60 a share — is a multiple of ego, not earnings. He may have some other super-secret plan to squeeze more value out of the company, but the deal would give him something that, for all of his stellar business achievements, he’s never achieved in this country: a seat at the gentlemen’s table.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/business/media/07carr.html
* Ottaways Deplore Bid by Murdoch
Two members of the Ottaway family, a minority partner in Dow Jones & Company, released scathing statements yesterday saying that a takeover by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation would ruin Dow Jones and its crown jewel, The Wall Street Journal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/business/media/07ottaway.html
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* Statement: 'The media equivalent of a trophy wife'
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB117847597734093670,00.html?mod=todays...
* The Wrong Man for Dow Jones (by Jim Ottaway Jr)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/06/AR200705...
* A London read on Murdoch's plan
The Dow Jones suitor's British properties show a 'populist' approach.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-rupertstimes7may07,1,...