War at the Wall Street Journal Read Free Page A

blood rivalries of the Kentucky Binghams, the visibility and influence of the DC Grahams, and the social cachet of the California Chandlers. At the start, after the early sizing up, Murdoch may have wished for better sport, but he would learn that where money and New Englanders are concerned, the process of seduction takes more than a few clambakes.
    The Bancrofts believed in the
Journal
name. Unambitious, a bit panache-deprived, they remained dedicated to their paper, from a distance. They never bowed, as others had, to the conglomerates, which would have stripped the publication of its identity and then puzzled over its failure. Unlike Murdoch, however, the family allowed their paper to espouse political views with which they disagreed wholeheartedly. The Bancrofts had, despite their largely liberal leanings, defended the
Journal
's deeply conservative editorial board, whose philosophy, "free markets, free people," and its flame-throwing editorials made it the vanguard of the conservative movement. That summer, however, Murdoch had presented a $600 million decision: turn down his offer, and they could watch the shares continue to founder at around $35, where they had been trading before he came on the scene. (There was the strong possibility that the shares would plummet, too, leaving the family stuck with their dwindling prize.) Or, they could accept Murdoch's offer, which boosted the value of their Dow Jones stake by more than half a billion dollars, and leave Dow Jones, once and for all, "to the professionals."
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    The Hudson glimmered in the sun as Diller's party of fourteen guests surveyed his new $100 million building, which would mystify passersby and was home to IAC's holdings such as the Home Shopping Network, Ticketmaster, and LendingTree. Diller's decision to include Murdoch—his old boss, friend, and occasional tormenter—had been spur-of-the-moment. He had called Rupert that morning to congratulate him and found himself issuing an invitation. The two had a history.
    Diller had been instrumental in the creation of Murdoch's wildly successful Fox television network, which had taken on what seemed at the time the ironclad dominance of the big three networks. After nearly a decade of devotion to all things Murdoch, Diller left unexpectedly after Murdoch refused to give him partnership in the business he had helped build. Even then, Murdoch had an instinct for self-preservation through family control, though his own clan had weathered its difficulties, beginning in a predictable fashion when Murdoch became attracted to a younger woman.
    As he was falling in love in the 1990s with the opportunity that was China, he was simultaneously diverted by a young Chinese employee at Star TV. Wendi Deng, the daughter of a factory manager, was almost forty years Murdoch's junior. Unlike his second wife, Anna, Wendi didn't urge him to work less or spend more time at home. Romance blossomed—one that to this day Murdoch denies having begun until separating from Anna. Even his children—he had three with Anna and one with his first wife, Patricia Booker—doubted his version of events. "Absolutely it was going on. I know from his friends," one confessed. "He'll deny it to his dying day."
    On the night of the Diller fete, Wendi was traveling, unable to join the festivities. Anna Murdoch had held a spot on the News Corp. board, occupied an office in the headquarters, and had her own assistant. But in her position at the company she rarely ventured far afield from organizing social events for executives and their wives and protecting her children's future stake in the empire. Unlike Anna, Wendi launched herself, however peripherally, into News Corp.'s business, consulting on the company's MySpace online social network site in China. She was also planning to start up a production company with film star Ziyi Zhang. (Wendi had introduced her countrywoman, on Murdoch's own yacht, to Vivi Nevo, the Israeli venture