The latest story on who might buy Dow Jones finds Microsoft (MSFT) and GE (GE) looking to bid. The talks apparently got no where, and it is no wonder. The Wall Street Journal has been one of Microsoft’s most dogged critics. The big software company might buy DJ to shut the Journal, but that would be the extent of it.
Under the plan that was floated, Dow Jones would have been put together with NBC Univeral to beef up the company’s business TV offerings. The move would have kept Murdoch with using the Journal to help him create a Fox business channel to compete with CNBC.
A look at the collapse of the deal is telling. Microsoft cannot afford to own a medium that is a regular critic. It could easily put the company at odds with Journal reporters. The outcome of the potential partnership shows that GE continues to avoid taking risks, a cultural problem that may be at the root of many of the company’s problems. If Dow Jones can help NBC Universal, why bring in Microsoft, except to lay off some risk. But, this is not the mortgage business where piece of loan portfolios can be auctioned off.
The idea was hair-brained from the start. Wall St. should hope neither company spent much time on it.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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