No resolution this week and possibly none next week when it comes to the Bancrofts … according to the Journal, the family plans a Monday meeting in Boston to hear about the News Corp. offer; they then will have about a week to make a decision. As has been chronicled in detail, the family is divided. That may not matter, though, as long as the bid gets enough of the vote to match with that of other shareholders in favor.
SEC plans to sue DJ director: While the obsessed among us wait to see if enough Bancroft family shares follow the lead of the Dow Jones board, the SEC’s investigation into insider trading connected to the News Corp. bid leads to, well, a member of the board. According to various published reports, David K. P. Li, chairman and CEO of the Bank of East Asia, has been warned by the SEC to expect civil charges; Li has served as a DJ director since 1993. The case has not yet been brought to the SEC for a final decision. Li was not at the late Tuesday board meeting that produced a vote in favor of News Corp.
The Wells notice, as it called, to Li follows an insider-trading case filed in May against a Hong Kong married couple with connections to Li. More details in the NYT, the WSJ.
Journalists on edge: Another NYT piece about WSJ journalists’ concerns over Murdoch. The indecision is placing a strain on the staff, tensions are rising between newsoom and management, etc. The NYT reminds us that CEO Richard Zannino is a nonjournalist who came from the garment business. (Yes, they’re unhappy with a nonjournalist about the company being sold to a media company headed by someone from journalism.) Some continue to be concerned about how Murdoch’s business interests in China may affect the company’s journalism there.
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