BURKLE MAY CHALLENGE MURDOCH'S BID FOR WALL ST. JOURNAL

BURKLE MAY CHALLENGE MURDOCH'S BID FOR WALL ST. JOURNAL

Billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, who lost out to Sam Zell in the competition to buy the Tribune Corporation, may now vie against Rupert Murdoch to buy Dow Jones, the company that publishes the Wall Street Journal, according to published reports. Burkle, through his investment firm Yucaipa Companies, is said to be considering an alliance with the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, which represents 2,000 Dow Jones employees, and may join up with other billionaires -- the names of Eli Broad, Warren Buffett, and David Geffen are mentioned in the reports -- to counter Murdoch's $5-billion bid for the company. According to Editor and Publisher, Burkle has hired former Los Angeles Times publisher Jeff Johnson to advise him on media investments. Word of the new competition sent Dow Jones shares soaring to $61.62 Tuesday -- higher than the $60 that Murdoch has offered.

06/06/2007