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Dow Jones & Company facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | November 1882 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York City, New York, 10036 U.S. |
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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. (often called Dow Jones) is an American company that publishes news. It is owned by News Corp and led by its CEO, Almar Latour.
Dow Jones publishes famous newspapers and websites like The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and MarketWatch. It used to publish the well-known Dow Jones Industrial Average, which helps track the stock market.
Contents
History
Dow Jones was started in 1882 by three reporters: Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Charles Dow was very good at explaining complicated financial news in a way that everyone could understand. This is why Dow Jones is known for making important financial information clear to people around the world.
In 1902, after Charles Dow passed away, Clarence Barron, a leading financial journalist, bought Dow Jones. When Barron died in 1928, his stepdaughters, Jane and Martha Bancroft, took over the company. The Bancroft family controlled Dow Jones for a long time, owning most of its voting shares.
In 2007, after a big discussion, News Corporation bought Dow Jones. This deal was worth about $5 billion. With this purchase, News Corp gained control of The Wall Street Journal, ending the Bancroft family's 105 years of ownership. Dow Jones then became a part of News Corp.
For many years, Dow Jones was famous for publishing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other market statistics. However, in 2010, the part of the company that handled these stock market indexes was sold to the CME Group. After this, Dow Jones focused mainly on publishing financial news, especially its main newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, and providing financial information to businesses.
In April 2020, the CEO of Dow Jones, William Lewis, stepped down. On May 15, 2020, Almar Latour became the new CEO.
What Dow Jones Publishes
Dow Jones creates many different types of media. Some are for everyday readers, and others are for businesses and financial experts.
News for Everyone
The most famous publication is The Wall Street Journal. It's a daily newspaper that you can read in print or online. It covers business, finance, and news from around the world. It started in 1889 and is available in 12 versions and nine languages. The Wall Street Journal has won 35 Pulitzer Prizes for its excellent journalism.
Other publications for general readers include:
- Barron's Magazine: This is a weekly magazine that gives an overview of the world's economy and markets.
- MarketWatch: An online website that provides financial news.
- Investor's Business Daily: A newspaper and website that covers the stock market, international business, and economics.
- Financial News: This publication gives news about investment banking and managing money.
News for Businesses
Dow Jones also provides news and information for companies and financial markets. These products combine news with technology to help businesses make smart decisions. Some examples include:
- Dow Jones Newswires: This provides real-time financial news.
- Dow Jones Factiva: A huge database that helps people find information about companies, topics, and people through searches and alerts.
- Dow Jones Risk & Compliance: This helps companies manage risks and follow rules related to things like anti-corruption and anti-money laundering.
Dow Jones Newswires
Dow Jones Newswires is a service that delivers financial news in real-time. It started in 1882. Its main competitors are Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. Over 600,000 people, including stock brokers, traders, and analysts, use this service.
Broadcasting
Dow Jones used to provide news content to CNBC in the U.S. They also produced radio shows like The Wall Street Journal Report. These radio shows stopped in 2014. They also had an interactive video website called WSJ Live, which closed in 2017.
Stock Market Indexes
Dow Jones is famous for creating stock market indexes. These are like special numbers that show how a group of stocks is performing. In 2010, Dow Jones sold most of its index business to the CME Group.
Some of the most well-known Dow Jones indexes include:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average (often called "The Dow"): This is one of the most famous stock market indexes in the world.
- Dow Jones Transportation Average
- Dow Jones Utility Average
- Dow Jones Composite Average
NewsPicks USA
In 2017, Dow Jones teamed up with a Japanese company called NewsPicks Inc. to create NewsPicks USA. This company launched an English version of the NewsPicks platform for the U.S. market. This platform combines business news from sources like The Wall Street Journal with social networking features. Users could comment on news articles, and business experts called "ProPickers" would share their thoughts. This partnership ended in October 2018.
Who Owns Dow Jones
The company was started by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. They created The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which are all very important in financial journalism.
In 1902, Clarence Barron, a leading financial journalist, bought Dow Jones.
For many years, the Bancroft family, who were heirs of Clarence W. Barron, controlled Dow Jones. They owned a special type of shares that gave them a lot of voting power. At one point, they controlled 64% of the company's voting stock.
In 2007, News Corporation, a large global media company led by Rupert Murdoch, bought Dow Jones. Rupert Murdoch now owns Dow Jones through News Corp.
The Buyout Offer
On May 1, 2007, News Corporation offered to buy Dow Jones for $5 billion. This was a big offer, about 70% more than what the company was worth at the time. The offer was important because Rupert Murdoch wanted to use the strong Dow Jones brand, especially The Wall Street Journal, to help his new business news channel, Fox Business, which launched in 2007.
After some discussions, Dow Jones and News Corporation agreed to the takeover on July 17, 2007. The deal was finalized in December 2007.
See also
- Closing milestones of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
- List of assets owned by Dow Jones