Bancrofts Seek to Stymie Murdoch

Two members of the Dow Jones-controlling Bancrofts are making last-ditch efforts to block Rupert Murdoch from buying the Wall Street Journal publisher. Christopher Bancroft is frantically trying to gather the $2.55 billion he'd need to buy 51% of voting shares and block the sale on his own, while his cousin Leslie Hill is desperately soliciting competing bids.

Hill's plan is more likely to succeed because of the wide interest in the Journal, though it will be difficult to match Murdoch's $60 bil bid. The cousins are working independently, highlighting one of the many divides that have surfaced between family members in the last few months, the Journal itself reports. (More Rupert Murdoch stories.)