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One Year On: Murdoch Dances, News Corp Mourns

Purchase of Dow Jones came at worst possible time

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 16, 2008 7:42 AM CST

(Newser) – Those hesitant Bancrofts who sold the Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch last year have something to smile about this Christmas. Murdoch may be delighted with his new toy, but News Corp.'s share price has plunged 61%, farther than even perennial underperformer Time Warner. One year after its acquisition of Dow Jones, the New York Times Breaking Views column rather gleefully estimates just how much the Journal really cost.

As the financial sector reels and the newspaper industry crumbles, Dow Jones has probably lost about half of its $3 billion value since 2007, when Murdoch paid a pretty $5 billion to acquire it. That means that News Corp. has ceded $3.5 billion to the Bancrofts—a price that Murdoch might be able to stomach, but his shareholders might not.

Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones & Co., talks in his office Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 in New York, a year into its takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones & Co., talks in his office Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 in New York, a year into its takeover by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Robert Thomson, second from left, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, attends a morning meeting of news editors Nov. 11, 2008 in New York.
Robert Thomson, second from left, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, attends a morning meeting of news editors Nov. 11, 2008 in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Printer Belinda Affat poses for photographs with a copy of the Wall Street Journal at a printing press in London.
Printer Belinda Affat poses for photographs with a copy of the Wall Street Journal at a printing press in London.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, file)
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation, delivers the 2008 Boyer lecture series, A Golden Age of Freedom in Sydney, Australia.
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, News Corporation, delivers the 2008 Boyer lecture series, A Golden Age of Freedom in Sydney, Australia.   (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, attends a morning meeting of news editors Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 in New York.
Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, attends a morning meeting of news editors Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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