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The Class System at Dow Jones

how class system favors Dow Jones

By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff

Posted May 3, 2007 4:30 PM CDT

(Newser) – In rejecting Rupert Murdoch's offer for Dow Jones, the Bancroft family provides a textbook example of the case for—and against—dual class shares for media companies. With their shares carrying ten times the voting power of publicly traded shares, the family has the power to spurn a suitor it deems a poor match for the country's premiere financial newspaper.

That may be good for the public, if not for owners of the publicly traded stock, MarketWatch observes. And there's a limit to how much they'll take before mutiny ensues. Just ask people over at the New York Times Co., where shareholders have recently escalated efforts to loosen the  Sulzberger family's grip on the company.

 Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Tuesday, May 1, 2007 it has received an unsolicited bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to buy the company for $60 per share, or $5 billion. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Tuesday, May 1, 2007 it has received an unsolicited bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to buy the company for $60 per share, or $5 billion. (AP Photo/Richard...   (Associated Press)
Dow Flirts With 13,000 After Strong Earnings Reports
Dow Flirts With 13,000 After Strong Earnings Reports   (Getty Images)
Dow Flirts With 13,000 After Strong Earnings Reports
Dow Flirts With 13,000 After Strong Earnings Reports   (Getty Images)
A trader watches a moitor on the floor of the New York Stock...
A trader watches a moitor on the floor of the New York Stock...   (Getty Images)
Wall Street Tumbles After Chinese Stocks Plunge 9 Percent
Wall Street Tumbles After Chinese Stocks Plunge 9 Percent   (Getty Images)
Traders work the floor of the New York S
Traders work the floor of the New York S   (Getty Images)
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