Burkle considers entering Dow arena

Ron Burkle, a California billionaire with close ties to the Clintons, on Tuesday emerged as a potential rival to Rupert Murdoch and his quest to take over Dow Jones and its flagship Wall Street Journal.

Mr Burkle, who made his fortune in supermarkets and has recently turned his attention to newspapers, told the Dow Jones union that he would be interested in exploring a possible joint offer for the media group, according to Steve Yount, president of the local arm of the Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees.

Mr Burkle is one of a handful of billionaires, including investor Warren Buffett, that the union has reached out to in an effort to head off a $5bn bid from Mr Murdoch, the News Corp chief executive.

The union is opposing Mr Murdoch amid concerns that he would meddle with the Journal’s reporting in order to further his business and political goals.

Several members of the Bancroft family, which controls 64 per cent of Dow Jones voting power, have expressed similar misgivings.

“We don’t believe a sale to Mr Murdoch is a done deal,” Mr Yount said.

However, the opposition may be racing against time. Mr Murdoch, whose offer represents a 65 per cent premium, had his first face-to-face meeting with members of the Bancroft family in New York on Monday.

Both sides described the near five-hour session as “constructive”. The discussion focused on possible ways to ensure the editorial integrity and independence of the Journal and other Dow Jones publications in the event of a sale – an issue that the Bancrofts say must be addressed to their satisfaction before they are willing to talk about price or other matters.

Mr Burkle’s worth is estimated at $2.5bn by Forbes.

His presence would add an intriguing twist to the drama. He clashed with Mr Murdoch last year after accusing a gossip reporter from News Corp’s New York Post of demanding money from him in exchange for favourable coverage in its Page Six column.

Moreover, while Mr Murdoch has been accused of shifting media properties such as Fox News and the Post to the right, Mr Burkle is known to be a close friend of former President Clinton and a major contributor to his wife, Hillary’s, presidential campaign.

This year, Mr Burkle and Eli Broad made a highly leveraged bid for Tribune, the second-largest US newspaper chain, and its Los Angeles Times but were beaten by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell.