Rupert Murdoch has upped the ante in his effort to buy Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ), offering the Bancroft family that controls the publisher a seat on the News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) board..
The move is a clever offer, given that the family has refused to meet with him after he offered $60 a share for the financial publisher.
But, the gesture is also meaningless. Murdoch controls his board much as the Bancrofts control theirs.
Going to News Corp board meeting is good for the directors' fee and a free lunch.The offer does make it apparent that Murdoch is still pushing hard to get the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The pressure on the board at Dow Jones is already extremely high. The stock has not traded above $60 since 2001
.Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner in 24/7 Wall Street
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