It’s not a good time to be a member of the board of directors of Dow Jones & Co., owner of The Wall Street Journal.
One director resigned Thursday because of the board’s decision to approve a $5 billion buyout offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. A second director is under investigation by the SEC because of insider trading allegations related to that buyout offer.
“Although I’m convinced that the News Corp. offer is very generous in financial terms, I’m very worried that Dow Jones unique journalistic values will long-term strongly suffer after the proposed sale,” Dieter von Holtzbrinck wrote in his resignation letter.
Dow Jones issued a statement accepting his resignation, “with regret,” and wishing von Holtzbrinck well.
Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Dow Jones director David Li, chairman and chief executive of Bank of East Asia Ltd., was under investigation by the SEC. The daughter and son-in-law of a Hong Kong friend of Li’s allegedly made $8 million by buying Dow Jones shares just before Murdoch’s offer became public knowledge.
Li has denied wrongdoing, but his status as a Dow Jones director is unclear. Maybe it’s a good thing the Dow Jones board was so large - 14 members. Now, even with one gone and another compromised, there are still a dozen left.
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