Posted at 11:05 a.m., Thursday, July 19, 2007
Dow Jones director resigns over Murdoch endorsement
Associated Press
NEW YORK — German publishing executive Dieter von Holtzbrinck has resigned as a director of Dow Jones & Co. to protest the board's endorsement of a deal to sell the company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.In a letter included with a securities filing made by Dow Jones on Thursday, von Holtzbrinck said he was "very worried" that Dow Jones' "unique journalistic values will long-term strongly suffer after the proposed sale."
Dow Jones' board endorsed the $5 billion buyout offer from News Corp. late Tuesday, and the proposal has now gone to the company's controlling shareholders, the Bancroft family, for a decision. They are expected to meet Monday and take several days to consider the offer.
Von Holtzbrinck was reported to have abstained from the board's vote Tuesday, as did Leslie Hill, a Bancroft family member who also serves as a director. Christopher Bancroft, another family member and director, was reported to have left the meeting early.
