Dow Jones CEO Lex Fenwick to leave News Corp

REUTERS - News Corp said that Dow Jones Chief Executive Lex Fenwick is leaving News Corp and will be replaced by William Lewis as interim CEO.

In a statement on Tuesday, News Corp said it had plans to review the strategy for Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and operator of Dow Jones Newswires.

"We're reviewing the institutional strategy of Dow Jones with an eye towards changes that will deliver even more value to its customers," News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said.

Fenwick was appointed CEO of Dow Jones in February 2012 after more than two decades at Bloomberg L.P.

Fenwick was a controversial leader, known for his hard-charging style and profane outbursts, who was tasked with overhauling Dow Jones' institutional business.

Last year, Dow Jones launched DJX, essentially pulling all of Dow Jones products like Factiva and Newswires in one product for one price. It was a risky move: customers like banks, hedge funds and retail brokers were used to cherry picking from Dow Jones' offerings and negotiating on price.

During News Corp's past earnings reports, the company had flagged weakness at Dow Jones' institutional division.

Lewis previously served as editor-in-chief of the Telegraph Media Group in Britain.

Thomson Reuters competes with Dow Jones in providing news and financial data to banks and other financial institutions.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York; Editing by Andre Grenon and Nick Zieminski)