By STEPHANIE KANG June 20, 2007 4:19 p.m.

The former chief executive of the parent company of social-networking site MySpace says he will seek a non-controlling stake in Dow Jones & Co. through a $60-per-share “Dutch auction.”

An investment group led by Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan sent a letter to the board of directors at Dow Jones, stating that it would buy about 25% of Dow Jones common stock at $60 per share. In the so-called Dutch auction, Dow Jones shareholders could choose to tender their shares at $60 per share. The investment group would buy shares at this price until it had acquired about $1.25 billion, about a 25% stake in Dow Jones.

“I have successfully built a number of Internet franchises, including MySpace, and in studying the assets of Dow Jones, I believe the potential exists to significantly enhance the company’s presence and revenue streams in electronic media.”

Mr. Greenspan is the former chairman and chief executive of Intermix Media Inc., the parent company of MySpace when it was created. In October 2006, a Los Angeles court rejected legal challenges to News Corp.’s 2005 acquisition of MySpace parent Intermix, ruling that the deal was lawful. Mr. Greenspan had claimed the $580 million deal defrauded shareholders by undervaluing the Internet’s most popular social-networking site.

Mr. Greenspan left Intermix in 2003; the company, meanwhile, was facing an informal Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry and accounting restatements. He retained an approximate 11% share of the company. Mr. Greenspan had bid against News Corp., to purchase the rest of Intermix he didn’t own, but lost after Intermix’s board voted against his offer.

The investment group also proposed to buy $250 million in Dow Jones common stock at $60 per share. The group says it will provide the company with capital to expand in “high growth opportunities” in Internet, digital and broadcast. In addition, Dow Jones would add two seats to its board that would be filled by the investment group and would have “specific expertise in internet/digital/broadcasting industries,” according to a press release.

“We believe our proposal is a great opportunity to put a solution together that can keep Dow Jones independent and able to firmly hold on to its culture of integrity and high quality reporting, while at the same time being beneficial to all of the company’s stakeholders,” added Mr. Greenspan.

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