A couple developments have taken place in the Wall Street Journal saga. For starters, the full Board of Directors of Dow Jones is now going to take direct control of any talks over selling the company, which will put a layer between the Bancroft family and potential suitor News Corporation, headed by Rupert Murdoch.
And Murdoch suddenly finds himself with a bit more elbow room than he had earlier in the week, as a possible joint bid for Dow by Financial Times publisher Pearson and General Electric has gone from possible to off the table. Murdoch is said to have offered 5B for the company which he sees as a spectacular fit for his own multimedia empire.
