Dow Jones has decided to part ways with the operators of All Things Digital, the conference and technology news site founded by veteran journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher (pictured above) in 2007.
The contract between Dow Jones and its founders is set to expire at the end of the year. Last month, Fortune reported that Mossberg and Swisher had hired investment bank Code Advisors to find outside investors while it negotiated new contracts with Dow Jones. Mossberg and Swisher were — and may still be — seeking $10 million to $15 million for a 25% or 30% stake in the company, according to Fortune.
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Since its inception, ATD has operated as a largely independent company within Dow Jones, sharing various advertising and operational resources. Mossberg, a longstanding columnist at The Wall Street Journal, is a formal employee of Dow Jones; Swisher and the rest of the ATD team are contractors. The site has built a reputation as a hard-hitting, business-focused tech news site that frequently publishes scoops on Yahoo, AOL and mergers and acquisitions in the industry. Often, ATD's coverage has come into direct competition with the Dow Jones' flagship property, the WSJ.
As part of the split, Mossberg will be leaving the WSJ at the end of the year, ending his 20-year tenure at the paper.
It's not yet clear what will be happening to the All Things Digital brand, the site itself and its archival content — aspects of the split that may still be under negotiation. A spokesperson for Dow Jones would only say, "We have not yet finalized plans with respect to the branding."
Meanwhile, the WSJ is planning to "embark on a major global expansion of [its] technology coverage," adding some 20 reporters and editors to its digital coverage arsenal, as Gerard Baker, managing editor of the WSJ, wrote in an emailed statement. The paper is also planning on building a "new digital home" for all that coverage, called The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, and is set to expand its conference franchise to include a technology conference — all moves obviously designed to bridge the gap that will be left by ATD's departure.
Image: Joi Ito