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Even before Rupert Murdoch declared his intentions, The Wall Street Journal was already a bit under siege. The paper is full of talent that other publications want, and greedy rival editors — from Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Portfolio, Newsweek, Time, the Times — are drawing up their lists of Journalistas to entice away. After the jump, a speculative shopping list.
WSJ Star: Marcus Brauchli
Job: New managing editor. Well liked and with huge biz experience in Asia, he’d be the big “get” — but he’s waited in the wings nearly a decade for the top job and could overlook a lot of meddling.
Chance He’d Go: 50 to 1
WSJ Star: Laurie P. Cohen
Job: Senior special writer. Helped uncover the eighties “insider trading” scandal that lost Murdoch buddy Mike Milken his freedom. But she’s already left both the Times and Portfolio.
Chance She’d Go: 4 to 1
WSJ Star: Bruce Orwall
Job: L.A. bureau chief. He’s rebuffed offers before, but he covers a key Murdoch business and edited the big story about his wife. Plus Brauchli just passed him over for a prestigious “Page One” gig.
Chance He’d Go: 1 to 2
WSJ Star: Tunku Varadarajan
Job: Assistant managing editor. Formerly of the right-wing “Opinion” pages, he worked for Murdoch’s Times of London but called him the “master practitioner of the corporate kowtow” at the WSJ.
Chance He’d Go: 1 to 1
WSJ Star: Robert Frank
Job: “Luxury” reporter. Richistan author, covers yachts and hedge funds. Hard to see how Murdoch would affect him, though.
Chance He’d Go: 3 to 1
WSJ Star: George Anders
Job: News editor. Maybe the WSJ’s “most prized” journo, he has a Pulitzer and best-sellers. Favorite of ex–managing editor Paul Steiger, has lots of freedom.
Chance He’d Go: 4 to 1
WSJ Star: Bill Grueskin
Job: Deputy managing editor of news. Recently raised to a key job after turning the online edition into a huge success. But may still be smarting from his bounce from “Page One.”
Chance He’d Go: 4 to 1
—Geoffrey Gray
