On October 21 Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker sent out an email to his staff, announcing a round of voluntary buyouts.
In response, Barron’s president Ed Finn-whose publication, like the WSJ, is owned by News Corp.’s Dow Jones-emailed back asking what the terms of the buyout would mean for an upcoming round of layoffs at Barron’s, which had not yet announced the job cuts to its staff.
Finn intended to forward his email to a select group of individuals, but instead wound up relaying the message to the entire Wall Street Journal newsroom as he hit reply all.
So Barron’s employees received an email with the Wall Street Journal’s announcement with the following note:
“The email Gerry Baker just sent about wsj buyouts says that dj is offering 1.5x the standard buyout package. Are we planning to go to the employees we are laying off at Barron’s next week and offer them 1x the standard package. That could create some problems. Please advise.”
Finn later confirmed that it was a mistake from his side.
