BANCROFTS MEET TODAY; GREENSPAN URGES FAMILY TO REJECT MURDOCH BID, SAYS HE'LL LEND THEM $400M-$600M TO FEND OFF OFFER (NYT, AD)

By Tom Tapp

The Bancroft family today begins consideration of Rupert Murdoch's $5B offer for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal.

The Dow board has already approved the sale and, says The New York Times, it won't be easy for The Bancrofts to turn Murdoch down.

�They are not so well off as to be able to scoff at Murdoch�s money,� said James H. Ottaway, a major shareholder and retired Dow Jones executive. But, given the old-money propensities of the family, one member says, "all of that could happen or none of it � there�s no way to tell.�

One group that does seem to like Murdoch is The Journal's Ad Sales team.

Noting that The Journal's print-ad revenue was down 6.8% in the last quarter, Ad Age says the paper's business side is hoping Murdoch will shake up the ad-sales unit and "provide some much-needed marketing dollars to push the paper to potential advertisers."

Meanwhile, over the weekend MySpace founder Brad Greenspan offered another alternative.

NYT:

Mr. Greenspan proposes to lend the Bancroft family between $400 million to $600 million to buy out members who wish to sell. But it isn�t known how seriously his offer is being considered.