Murdoch's Patience May Be Rewarded

This column was originally published on RealMoney on May 1 at 11:56 a.m. ET. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

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It's about time. Finally, Rupert Murdoch makes the bid, a $60-a-share bid for Dow Jones (DJ). About 10 years ago, Murdoch called me in and said he wanted to buy Dow Jones. He felt that franchise couldn't be independent much longer, and he wasn't going to let anyone buy it.

He wanted to know -- because I had bought a 4% stake to try to force changes -- whether he could approach board members and try to take the company over. The stock was in the low $40s then. I suggested he pay $73. (This is all in Confessions of a Street Addict, by the way.) I also reminded him that the family still controlled it, and they would never sell.

The stock has been a dog ever since. Mind you, this is more than 10 years ago! So the $60-a-share bid is a good opener. Of course, the initial reaction from the family may be a simple no, and they don't have to sell.

But given the incredible underperformance and the possibility of it being permanent, maybe this time it will happen.

This time, it is needed: With Dow Jones, News Corp. (NWS) has a ready-made business team to give its business channel the talent and the data it needs. It comes on the heels of Dow Jones doing its Web thing, with Interactive and CNBC going it alone.

Murdoch never got back to me about his bid 10 years ago.

Looks like his patience has been rewarded. The market was about half of where it is now, and the stock is down.

Seems right.

Cramer is a featured commentator at CNBC. At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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