This should probably go under WorldMojo.com, but we’ve covered the Wall Street Journal here on HipMojo.com so it’s worth asking here.
While we’re not all really aware of it, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia rank as America’s greatest lenders. It’s not just debt, it’s equity, too: Blackstone, the private equity firm that went public last week and netted George W. Bush’s Yale classmate with an $8B valuation sold 10% of his company to the Chinese government.
Yesterday I wrote how most of the civilized world is against Rupert Murdoch’s bid for Dow Jones - parent of both Wall Street Journal and Barron’s - even though he would, in all honesty, be doing the world a service by opening up the site and making it free for readers. Yes, I know, he’s doing this to sell more advertising, but who can blame him, especially if the consumer wins by doing so.
It’s clear, of course, that the staff at DJ would lose, that’s why writers, shareholders, union members such as Eric Savitz are [rightfully/thankfully] against the idea of selling DJ to News Corp. After all, Murdoch is the kind of man, who according to a New Yorker article would “replace human beings who quit like he replaces furniture…”
But then I wonder, if Pearson won’t move in alone (even though their venerable Financial Times and The Economist are at risk) and GE won’t either (even though their CNBC franchise is clearly in Murdoch’s crossfires), then is it crazy to wonder if DJ’s current shareholders, including the Bancrofts (without whose vote a deal won’t materialize), would prefer selling DJ to the Chinese, Saudi or Russian government for $5B.
Imagine that. China or Russia owning Wall Street, or for that matter, the Saudis owning Wall Street…
Oh wait…
In case you’re wondering, I was a part of News Corp. from Oct. to Dec. 2005 and Mr. Murdoch promptly showed me the door, though I don’t hold any grudges. I am against Mr. Murdoch’s move, largely explained why here. What I am doing here is calling out some of the other otherwise proud companies (or famous investors) that should be stepping up to the plate to avoid either one of this nightmare scenario to materialize.
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June 26th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
dont forget, he made his first american dollar on married with children. the man doesn’t care about content (obviously).