Dow Jones COO/CFO Daintith to Depart–Halpin Becomes CFO

The exec shifts at Dow Jones, a unit of News Corp., continue with the just-announced departure of Stephen Daintith as the media company’s COO and CFO.

He will be replaced by Kevin Halpin, a longtime News Corp. (NWS) finance exec who will become CFO and EVP, effective October 15.

Daintith, a six-year News Corp. veteran, is leaving for an unspecified new job opportunity.

Other exec departures at Dow Jones announced earlier this month: Gordon McLeod, president of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network; and Ann Sarnoff, president of Dow Jones Ventures and SVP for strategy.

Here is the official Dow Jones press release on the Daintith/Halpin switcheroo:

Dow Jones Press Release September 27 2010

And here is the internal memo from Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton on the move:

Dear all,

Today we are announcing a transition in our Finance and associated groups. Kevin P. Halpin is joining as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Stephen Daintith departs to pursue a new opportunity outside News Corp.

Kevin knows Dow Jones already. And we know Kevin’s eminent qualifications. For the past two years he has served as senior vice president finance at News Corp. and before that as vice president finance for eight years. His News Corp. duties brought him in close touch with our business and others like it in the News Corp. family.

Stephen’s new opportunity will be disclosed soon by his new company. Suffice it to say that this is good for him and we are grateful for his significant contributions to our success. Stephen and I have worked alongside one another nearly six years, half of those at Dow Jones. He brought vision and leadership to the company’s operations, helping us modernize our processes and achieve excellence and profits. We have enjoyed his humor, energy and his unwavering focus on smart investment, expense management and revenue growth. He has been an outstanding executive and friend, and I wish him all success in his new position.

Kevin will play a key role in helping to set and support our strategic priorities, as well as managing our growth and profitability. He will lead all finance functions and will be responsible for business unit finance, procurement, tax, audit, administrative services and facilities.

His appointment is effective October 15, 2010, and he will report to me. The Global Business Technology Services team led by Dean DelVecchio going forward will report to Todd Larsen. Our business units and technology must work hand in glove to be successful, and this will help align their priorities.

At News Corp., Kevin was responsible for evaluating merger, acquisition and divestiture opportunities. He has been involved with a number of significant transactions, including the purchase of Dow Jones in 2007 and the proposed BSkyB transaction. He received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, a master’s in business administration from Villanova University and is a CPA.

Please join me in welcoming Kevin to our already outstanding management team. This is a time of great opportunity at Dow Jones as we continue to pioneer new products and new thinking in digital content.

Best,
Les

(Full disclosure: Dow Jones owns this site; also, we like Stephen, we’ll miss him and we really think he’s an awfully good sport for all the ribbing we have given him.)