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Dow Jones & Company facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | November 1882 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | 1211 Avenue of the Americas, , |
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Key people
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Almar Latour (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Revenue |  $1.5 billion USD (2019) |
| $386.56 million USD (2009) |
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| Parent | News Corp (2007–present) |
Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (or just Dow Jones) is an American company that publishes news. It is owned by News Corp and its CEO is Almar Latour. Dow Jones publishes famous newspapers and websites like The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and MarketWatch.
The company is also well-known for creating the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). This is a way to measure how well the stock market is doing. Dow Jones published the DJIA from 1882 until 2010. Then, News Corp sold most of its share in the Dow Jones stock market indices business to CME Group. News Corp sold its last part in 2013.
Contents
The Story of Dow Jones
How Dow Jones Started
The company began in 1882. It was started by three reporters: Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Charles Dow was very good at explaining complicated financial news in a way that regular people could understand. This is why Dow Jones & Company became famous for sharing important financial information around the world. Later, Thomas F. Woodlock also joined them in running the company.
Changes in Ownership
In 1902, Clarence Barron bought Dow Jones. He was a leading financial journalist at the time. This happened after Charles Dow, one of the founders, passed away. When Barron died in 1928, his stepdaughters, Jane and Martha Bancroft, took over. The Bancroft family controlled the company for a long time. They owned 64% of the voting stock.
In 2007, News Corporation bought Dow Jones. This ended the Bancroft family's 105 years of ownership. News Corporation is a large media company. The deal was worth about $5 billion. This made Dow Jones a part of News Corporation. The sale was completed on December 13, 2007.
Focusing on News
Dow Jones first created the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other financial statistics. In 2010, the part of the company that managed these stock market measures, called Dow Jones Indexes, was sold to the CME Group. After this, Dow Jones focused more on publishing financial news. Their main publication is The Wall Street Journal. They also provide financial news and tools to other companies.
In 2005, Dow Jones worked with FTSE to create the Industry Classification Benchmark. This is a system used to group different parts of the market.
Recent Leaders
In April 2020, William Lewis stepped down as CEO of Dow Jones. He had been in the role for almost six years. On May 7, 2020, News Corp announced that Almar Latour would become the new CEO. He started on May 15, 2020.
In 2021, Dow Jones bought two companies, OPIS and Base Chemicals. They bought them from IHS Markit for $1.4 billion.
What Dow Jones Publishes
News for Everyone
Dow Jones's most famous publication is The Wall Street Journal. This is a daily newspaper that covers business, finance, and world news. It started publishing on July 8, 1889. There are 12 versions of The Journal in nine languages. These include English, Chinese, and Japanese. The Journal has won 35 Pulitzer Prizes for its excellent journalism.
Other publications for the general public include:
- Barron's Magazine: A weekly magazine about the world economy and markets.
- MarketWatch: An online website for financial news.
- Investor's Business Daily: A newspaper and website about the stock market and business.
- Financial News: Provides news on investment banking and asset management.
- BigCharts: Offers stock charts and research tools.
- Professor Journal: A program for teachers to use The Journal in their classes.
In 2017, Dow Jones launched Moneyish. This was a website about lifestyle and personal finance for younger readers.
News for Businesses
Dow Jones also provides news and information to companies and financial markets. They have more than 20 products that combine content and technology. These products help businesses make smart decisions. Some of these products include:
- Dow Jones Newswires: Provides real-time financial news.
- Dow Jones Factiva: A database that helps users find information about companies and topics.
- Dow Jones FX Select: Delivers real-time global news about foreign exchange.
- Dow Jones VentureSource: Provides data on companies that receive venture capital funding.
- Private Equity Analyst: Offers news and analysis on private equity and venture capital.
- Dow Jones Risk & Compliance: Helps companies manage risks and follow rules.
Dow Jones Newswires
Dow Jones Newswires is a company that provides financial news in real-time. It was founded in 1882. Its main competitors are Bloomberg L.P. and Thomson Reuters. As of July 2011, it had more than 600,000 subscribers. These subscribers include brokers, traders, and fund managers.
Broadcasting News
Dow Jones used to provide news content to CNBC in the U.S. They also produced two shows for commercial radio. These were The Wall Street Journal Report and The Dow Jones Report. The radio network closed in 2014.
Dow Jones also launched WSJ Live. This was a website with live and on-demand videos from The Wall Street Journal. It was shut down in 2017.
Stock Market Measures (Indices)
In February 2010, Dow Jones sold 90% of its business that created stock market measures (called Indices). They sold it for $607.5 million to Chicago-based CME Group. Some of the most popular indices included:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA, often called "The Dow")
- Dow Jones Transportation Average
- Dow Jones Utility Average
- Dow Jones Composite Average
- The Global Dow
- Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index
- Dow Jones Total Stock Market Index
- Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
- Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes
- Dow Jones Target Date Indexes
In July 2012, Dow Jones & Company and CME Group combined their index businesses. They formed a new company called S&P Dow Jones Indices. McGraw–Hill's Standard and Poor's (S&P) owned most of it (73.0%). CME Group owned 24.4%, and Dow Jones & Company owned a small part (2.6%).
In April 2013, CME Group bought Dow Jones & Company's remaining share in S&P Dow Jones Indices for $80.0 million. This increased CME Group's ownership to 27.0%. It also meant Dow Jones & Company was no longer involved with the indices that carried its name.
Who Owns Dow Jones Now
The company was started by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Over 20 years, they created three important products: The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
In 1902, Clarence Barron, a leading financial journalist, bought Dow Jones.
In 2007, News Corp. bought Dow Jones. News Corp. is a major global media company.
Before the sale to News Corp., the Bancroft family, who were heirs of Clarence W. Barron, controlled the company. They had special shares that gave them more voting power. At one point, they controlled 64% of Dow Jones's voting stock.
Today, Dow Jones is owned by Rupert Murdoch. He is the owner of News Corp and several other large media companies.
The Buyout Offer
On May 1, 2007, Dow Jones announced that News Corporation, led by Rupert Murdoch, had offered to buy the company. The offer was $60 per share, which totaled $5 billion. This offer was much higher than the company's market value at the time.
Some people thought that Rupert Murdoch wanted Dow Jones for his new cable business news channel, Fox Business. They believed the Dow Jones name would make his new channel seem more trustworthy right away.
Other groups also showed interest in buying Dow Jones. For example, Brian Tierney, who owned The Philadelphia Inquirer, wanted to join with partners to buy the company. MySpace co-founder Brad Greenspan also made an offer to buy a part of Dow Jones.
On July 17, 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that Dow Jones and News Corporation had agreed to the $5 billion takeover. The deal was put to the Dow Jones board for approval.
The idea was to keep Dow Jones's print publications strong for financial reporting. They also wanted to grow the company through online media. This would help Dow Jones become even more successful in the digital world.
Images for kids
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