Acknowledgments

I could not have written this book without the Wall Street Journal.

Not only would I have been deprived of a main character and a narrative thread, but I would have been without the professional home that taught me everything I know about recognizing a good story and then telling it. I joined the paper at twenty-four as a news assistant in Paris. It was, as my friend Matthew Rose had promised, like being paid to go to journalism school.

Writing about the people and place where I learned so much—and where I had personal relationships with many of the book's subjects—was particularly challenging. I endeavored to treat this story as I'd been trained to do, with rigorous objectivity, intellectual honesty, and fairness. The readers' interests were paramount, and I hope they feel well represented.

Peter Kann created an atmosphere where inspiring journalism flourished. His wife, Karen House, was personally generous to me when she ran the paper's international editions. Fred Kempe, Tom Kamm, and Greg Steinmetz gave me my earliest opportunities at the paper, and I will always remember their patience and generosity.

Barney Calame and Stuart Karle taught me the rigorous and unwavering ethical standards that defined the Journal.

Nik Deogun hired me to come to New York and looked out for me on many occasions. He worked with me on my last assignment, to cover Rupert Murdoch's bid to buy the paper. That story gave me the immense privilege of working directly with Paul Steiger, who oversaw the paper's coverage of the deal. I am indebted to the team of editors and reporters who worked with me on that story: Mike Siconolfi, Rich Turner, Martin Peers, Susan Pulliam, Matthew Karnitschnig, Dennis Berman, and Susan Warren. Matt Murray and Margaret deStreel were gracious under tremendous deadline pressure.

I am grateful to Marcus Brauchli for granting me leave to write this book and promising he would take me back no matter what I wrote, as long as it was true.

Thanks to my former colleagues, including Geeta Anand, James Bandler, Lisa Bannon, Rebecca Blumenstein, Ellen Byron, Robert Christie, Michael Connolly, Gordon Crovitz, Kevin Delaney, Jesse Drucker, Jennifer Forsyth, Robert Frank, Alix Freedman, Alessandra Galloni, Bill Grueskin, Dan Hertzberg, Larry Ingrassia, Paul Ingrassia, Dave Kansas, Dan Kelly, Kate Kelly, Almar Latour, Peter Lattman, Merissa Marr, Mike Miller, Alan Murray, Emily Nelson, Bruce Orwall, David Sanford, Suzanne Sataline, Sam Schechner, Steve Stecklow, Brian Steinberg, Joseph Stern, Kim Strassel, Suzanne Vranica, Mike Williams, and Rich Zannino.

My friend Julia Angwin, who juggled a newborn and a book project just a year before I did, was always ready with much-needed encouragement and advice.

Special thanks to the Bancroft family and their advisers, too numerous to name here, who generously shared their time and the stories of their family.

I am grateful to Rupert Murdoch and his family for agreeing to talk to me for this book. Thanks to Gary Ginsberg and Teri Everett for their help with my research; to Robert Thomson for his wit; and to Lon Jacobs, Jimmy Lee, John Nallen, Arthur Siskind, Andrew Steginsky, and many other current and former News Corp. employees and advisers who were helpful to me.

Thanks to Neena Lall for her early transcriptions, Kate Ryder for her research assistance, and especially Nadia Mustafa for her meticulous fact checking. Meredith Angwin provided sage comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Daniel Okrent, Norman Pearlstine, Ken Auletta, and James Stewart gave me early advice that was extremely useful. Christopher Dickey and Michael Elliott helped me get to the Journal, and for that I am grateful.

I couldn't have started, much less finished, this book without the wise counsel and encouraging words of my agent, David Halpern. Kathy Robbins and everyone at the Robbins Office, including Ian King and Rachelle Bergstein, were enormously supportive at every step. George Hodgman at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was this book's champion. No author could ask for a more passionate or hilarious editor. Special thanks to Andrea Schulz for her encouragement and advice. Barbara Wood was a meticulous copyeditor. Thanks, too, to Larry Cooper and Loren Isenberg at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for their attention to the manuscript.

My friends have been a source of sanity: Jenny Carchman, Claudia Campo, Nell Casey, Caroline Cooper, Valerie Lincy, Christina Lowery, Betsy McPherson, Kendra Percy, and Nita Rao. Special thanks to Lexi Reese, Saira Rao, and Lisa Turvey, who were on speed dial.

Thanks to my in-laws, Erica and Peter Eisinger, for enduring long discussions of book titles. Sarah Eisinger accompanied me on many soul-searching walks around the park.

My warmest gratitude goes to my parents, James and Susan Ellison, whose unconditional love instilled in me the confidence and work ethic required for a book like this. My mother spent six weeks taking care of my newborn daughter so I could finish the manuscript. My amazing brother, J. P. Ellison, his wife, Lauren Case, and their children, Meredith and Henry, have provided constant love and savvy Web design. The Ellison and Miller aunts, uncles, and cousins were wonderful cheerleaders, especially my aunt Nancy Miller and cousins Carrie and Gretchen.

To my daughter, Iva: Every author should have such a joyous interruption of the writing process. And, especially, to my husband, Jesse Eisinger, without whom I would never eat a proper meal, much less write a book. Any mention here couldn't possibly reflect my deepest love and thanks.