ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997 TAG: 9704170053
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Some shareholders feel the company is ill-suited to run such a technology-D} intensive business.
The mysterious heiress came and left in a whisper. The outspoken son uttered nary a word. Wall Street's reigning king sat off to the side, listened quietly and departed.
Dow Jones & Co.'s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday was a far cry from the raucous affair many had anticipated.
``We're just going to listen,'' said stockholder Michael Price, the powerful money manager known best for driving New York's Chase Manhattan and Chemical banks to merge. ``I thought it would just make sense to be here.''
In fact, Price did not speak during the two-hour affair, despite his continued criticism of Dow Jones' plan to spend $650 million to overhaul its electronic financial information subsidiary, formerly know as Telerate.
The future of the unit, now known as Dow Jones Markets, has become a focal point for criticism of Dow Jones' stock price, which stands at late 1980s levels. Some see the Telerate overhaul as too costly.
Nevertheless, many of the critics remained strangely silent.
Elisabeth Goth, a media-shy heiress of the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones, sat quietly and left quickly.
William Cox III, an outspoken cousin of Goth, also made no public comment.
Peter Kann, chairman and chief executive of Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal, presided over the meeting. Kann was no doubt happy the 500-person affair didn't turn into a shouting match.
The sharpest question was why did Dow Jones Markets fail to keep up with competitors Reuters and Bloomberg? Kann said Dow Jones invested too late and wasn't as close to its customers as it should have been..
``This company always has been managed for profit,'' Kann said. ``But it has never been managed merely for short-term profit.''
A symbol of this was Kann's recognition of Michael Waldholz and David Sanford, two of the seven Wall Street Journal writers who won the Pulitzer Prize in national reporting this year for their coverage of new treatments for AIDS.
Even the critics agree that the Journal is a fine business for Dow Jones. The difference is over Telerate. Some feel Dow Jones is ill-suited to run such a technology-intensive business.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS The normally outspoken shareholderby CNBWilliam Cox III left the meeting Wednesday without commenting about
the company's proposed $650 million expense for the subsidiary
formerly known as Telerate.