Crawford Hill III, chairman of the science department at the Episcopal Academy in suburban Philadelphia and a member of the Bancroft family that once owned Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, is bemoaning the balky effort to pick somebody to claim the family's seat on Rupert Murdoch's board at News Corp. (NYSE: NWSA).
Hill was among the family members who had favored the sale to Murdoch. Last July, before the current hubbub, Hill wrote an interesting perspective about family ownership and an argument for a sale in a letter to the family (in which he incidentally confesses to being "an Eagles fan all the way.") After the sale went through, deadlines were missed to name a board member. According to the WSJ, Hill wrote in an e-mail to relatives: "This entire, sad and pathetic, final episode is a fiasco. No wonder we lost Dow Jones!!" In the end, family member Natalie Bancroft, a 27-year-old opera singer who lives in Europe and is said to have no experience in commerce or journalism, got the board seat.
In an e-mail to PhillyInc this weekend, Hill reiterated that the family "was actually very much in synch" about the board appointment "but was kept in dark by our advisors." He declined to say more.
Here's his whole e-mail printed with other Bancroft family e-mails by the WSJ and which Hill told us was genuine. (By the way, the John Carroll he mentions is the same John Carroll who was an editor at The Inquirer and Los Angeles Times, and who some Bancroft heirs wanted to take the Murdoch board seat on their behalf).
Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
Hi all,
I can only say what a joke this episode has become. To learn only just now what Chris [Bancroft] kindly just passed along to us is both disgraceful and egregious and reflects poorly on those who should have guided this to a satisfactory conclusion.
None of this however is to reflect on the integrity, smarts or work ethic of Mike Hill (and Liz [Elisabeth Chelberg], for that matter) who has (have) all of those and more. I just wonder, given the very bizarre nature of this process (or, really, Non-Process) and the Board position itself as we now know it, why anyone in the family would want to do this.
This entire, sad and pathetic, final episode is a fiasco. No wonder we lost Dow Jones!!
I will call John Carroll and pass along the news. To those responsible- Thanks so much for placing me in this awkward position... on the other hand as I have pointed out elsewhere, getting these things right requires more than our designated representatives were capable of executing. The pattern holds to the end. What a shame. I had high hopes that we could get this right and worked hard to that end. Finding all this out now, after the fact is stranger than fiction.
My Best to you all- may your future endeavours be more successful than what transpired here today (not saying much) and may you carry on with your interesting and diverse lives.
I am done with this matter.
Thanks for listening and thanks to those of you who spoke up and supported me when you were so moved. I appreciate your efforts and value our relationships.
As ever,
Crawford
