Sorry Rupert, the Wall Street Journal is not for riff raff

The New York Observer newspaper
Published: May 1, 2007

Bancroft Clan Squashes Rupert’s $5 Billion Dow Bid
by Michael Calderone and Felix Gillette


It seemed, for a few hours on the afternoon of May 1, as though Rupert Murdoch was about to fulfill a fantasy he’d been developing for more than 10 years.

It was a little before noon when David Faber broke the news on the CNBC show Squawk Box that Mr. Murdoch’s News Corp. had tendered an offer to buy Dow Jones Inc., which owns a raft of media properties including The Wall Street Journal, from the Bancroft family, which has controlled the company since the 1920’s.

And it was around 7 p.m. that the Bancrofts told their representative on the company’s board, Michael B. Elefante, to tell the board that the family planned to use its controlling interest to block the $5 billion bid.