The Wall Street Journal
America's business paper of record since 1889: the $5 billion 2007 News Corp takeover, the 1996 hard paywall, the iconic hedcuts — and the paper that two heads of government tried to sue into silence (Najib Razak in 2015, Donald Trump in 2025–26) and stood by its reporting both times.
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- Country
- United States
- Founded
- First edition printed July 8, 1889, by Charles H. Dow, Edward D. Jones and Charles Bergstresser; sold for two cents a copy
- Owner
- Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp since Rupert Murdoch's 2007 takeover; the Bancroft family had controlled Dow Jones for over a century before the sale
- Editor-in-chief
- Emma Tucker, named December 12, 2022 — the first woman to lead the paper — succeeding Matt Murray effective February 1, 2023
- Known for
- Its hard paywall (online since 1996), the stipple hedcut portraits, the offbeat Page One A-hed — and its habit of standing by reporting that powerful people threaten to sue over
- Record
- 40 Pulitzer Prizes as of 2025, including the 2025 Pulitzer for National Reporting for its coverage of Elon Musk
- Legal fights
- Trump refiled a $10 billion defamation suit in May 2026 over the July 2025 Epstein birthday-letter report, after an earlier suit was dismissed; Malaysia's Najib Razak threatened legal action in 2015 over the 1MDB reporting
Overview
Two heads of government, a decade apart, tried to sue The Wall Street Journal into silence — and both times the paper stood by its reporting (The Straits Times; CNN). In 2015, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak threatened legal action over the Journal’s reporting that about US$700 million of state-fund money reached his personal accounts (The Straits Times). In 2025–26, President Donald Trump filed, lost, and refiled a $10 billion defamation suit over the paper’s report on a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing his name (CNN). That posture — publish, get threatened, hold the line — runs through the paper’s whole identity: a 137-year-old financial daily built on Charles Dow and Edward Jones’s bulletins to Wall Street traders, bought by Rupert Murdoch in 2007 for roughly $5 billion, and still recognizable by its hand-drawn stipple portraits and its quirk-filled front page (Museum of American Finance; Arab News).
The Trump lawsuits, 2025–2026
The Journal’s July 2025 report described a collection of letters given to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 — one of which, the paper reported, bore Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman (CNN). Trump denied writing it and sued the Journal’s publisher and two of its reporters (CNN). A Dow Jones spokesperson said the company had “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting” and would defend vigorously (CNN). The first suit was dismissed after a federal judge ruled that Trump had “failed to plausibly allege” the newspaper acted with “actual malice” (CNN). In late May 2026 he refiled, seeking $10 billion in damages and alleging “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting” (CNN). CNN reported that legal experts it consulted could not recall any past instance of a sitting president suing a news outlet over a story — and noted the suit fit a pattern: Trump filed a $15 billion defamation suit against the New York Times in September and a $10 billion suit against the BBC in December, the latter over spliced footage of his January 6, 2021 speech (CNN).
The 1MDB precedent, 2015
The Trump arc was not the first time a head of government threatened the paper over a money-in-politics investigation. In July 2015 the Journal reported, citing documents it said it had obtained — including bank transfer forms and flow charts prepared by government investigators — that almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) from the state investment fund 1MDB went into Najib Razak’s personal accounts (The Straits Times). Najib’s political secretary told a Malay daily the report was “done with bad intention and based on unsubstantiated and dubious sources,” adding “We will take legal action”; the prime minister’s office called the report “political sabotage” aimed at removing a democratically elected prime minister (The Straits Times). The paper did not retract, and publicly stated that it stood by the report (The Straits Times).
Ownership and the newsroom
The paper’s first edition was printed on July 8, 1889, by three partners — Charles H. Dow, Edward D. Jones and Charles Bergstresser — and sold for two cents (Museum of American Finance). Dow and Jones had left the Kiernan News Agency in November 1882 to form their own firm in a small room at 15 Wall Street, next to the Stock Exchange; a printed daily news sheet they began in 1883, slipped into the last delivery of the day, became the Journal’s direct forerunner (Museum of American Finance). The Dow Jones Industrial Average followed in 1896 (Museum of American Finance). In 1902 Clarence Barron bought Dow Jones & Co. for $130,000, when the paper’s circulation was about 7,000 (Museum of American Finance).
The modern paper was shaped by managing editor Bernard Kilgore, who remade it from what Columbia Journalism Review calls “a daily blizzard of random financial data” into a literate storytelling paper — a bet that carried circulation from 30,000 to more than a million (Columbia Journalism Review). The Bancroft family, Barron’s heirs, controlled Dow Jones for over a century until Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp won control in a roughly $5 billion takeover in August 2007, backed by about 37 percent of the shareholder vote (Arab News). The deal created a five-member committee charged with “assuring the continued journalistic and editorial integrity and independence of Dow Jones’ publications and services” (Arab News) — a body that still matters: it unanimously approved Emma Tucker’s appointment as editor-in-chief in 2022 (News Corp). Tucker, named on December 12, 2022 and in the job from February 1, 2023, is the first woman to lead the 133-year-old paper; she succeeded Matt Murray, whose tenure since June 2018 produced a 2019 Pulitzer for National Reporting and the Facebook Files series, and doubled digital-only subscriptions from about 1.6 million to nearly 3.2 million (News Corp).
How it looks and reads
The Journal’s most recognizable visual signature is the hedcut — the stipple portrait, hand-drawn with dots and dashes instead of lines, that has graced its pages since 1979, when artist Kevin Sprouls devised the technique (Taipei Times). The engraving-like style is a deliberate nod to stock-certificate illustration and U.S. dollar bills (Taipei Times). Sprouls started at Dow Jones as a freelancer in the marketing department; his style caught the eye of page-one editor Glynn Mapes (Taipei Times). The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery calls the hedcuts “an American icon,” and in the spring of 2002 the Journal donated a group of them to the museum, which opened the exhibition “Picturing Business in America” (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery). That same year the paper auctioned 582 hedcuts on eBay — Tiger Woods’s portrait fetched $860, Michael Jordan’s $733.45 — with proceeds going to the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, founded in 1958, to support minority journalism scholarships (Taipei Times). The paper publishes about ten hedcuts a day from an archive of more than 9,000 portraits (Taipei Times). The style exists because of a legendary resistance to photographs: retired executive editor Fred Taylor once said, “I’ve always thought that one word was worth a thousand pictures” (Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery).
The front page’s other signature is the A-hed — the offbeat, apropos-of-nothing feature that has run on Page One since 1943, named for the shape of its headline back in the day (Columbia Journalism Review). Close Journal-watchers long treated it as a barometer of the paper’s editorial health (Columbia Journalism Review). And behind it all sits the paywall: launched in 1996 as the industry’s early major “hard” paywall — paying customers only, modeled on the print subscription — and still, in Columbia Journalism Review’s testing, the tightest among daily newspapers, with no metered access and no exceptions for search traffic (Columbia Journalism Review).
Record and reach
In 2025 the Journal’s staff won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its coverage of Elon Musk’s political and personal evolution — “This is the Journal’s 40th Pulitzer Prize,” the announcement said (Editor & Publisher). The paper’s global reporting has come at a cost: South Asia bureau chief Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002 while on assignment (Museum of American Finance). By the paper’s 125th anniversary in 2014 it was the largest-circulation daily in the United States, at about 2.4 million (Museum of American Finance).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not name the reporters or the full defendant list in Trump’s lawsuit — CNN identified only “the Journal’s publisher and two of its reporters,” and the profile stays with that. It does not state the outcome of the refiled suit, which was pending as of publication, or assert the name of the judge who dismissed the first one. It does not detail Najib Razak’s later conviction; the fully-read source for this profile predates it. It does not assert a Pulitzer count beyond the 40th (2025), characterize the editorial page’s politics, or give a current circulation figure — no fully-read source confirmed those.
Timeline
- 1882
- Charles H. Dow and Edward D. Jones leave the Kiernan News Agency to form their own firm at 15 Wall Street; a printed daily news sheet they begin in 1883 becomes the forerunner of the Journal.
- 1889
- The first edition of The Wall Street Journal is printed on July 8, founded by Dow, Jones and Charles Bergstresser, selling for two cents.
- 1896
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is first published by Dow Jones.
- 1902
- Clarence Barron buys Dow Jones & Co. for $130,000, when the paper's circulation is about 7,000.
- 1943
- The A-hed — the offbeat, apropos-of-nothing Page One feature, named for the shape of its headline — has run on the paper's front page since this year, as managing editor Bernard Kilgore remakes the paper; the quality bet carries circulation from 30,000 past a million.
- 1979
- Artist Kevin Sprouls devises the stipple "hedcut" portrait style for the paper, which the Smithsonian will later call an American icon.
- 1996
- The Journal's online paywall launches — a "hard" paywall modeled on the print subscription, the industry's earliest major one.
- 2002
- The Journal donates a group of hedcuts to the National Portrait Gallery, which opens the "Picturing Business in America" exhibition; the paper also auctions hedcuts on eBay, with proceeds funding minority journalism scholarships. South Asia bureau chief Daniel Pearl is kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan.
- 2007
- Rupert Murdoch's News Corp wins control of Dow Jones & Co. and the Journal in a roughly $5 billion takeover; a five-member committee is created to safeguard the publications' editorial independence.
- 2015
- The Journal reports that about US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB funds reached Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak's personal accounts; Najib threatens legal action, and the paper stands by the report.
- 2022
- News Corp names Emma Tucker editor-in-chief of the Journal and Dow Jones Newswires on December 12 — the first woman to lead the paper — effective February 1, 2023.
- 2025
- The Journal's staff wins the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its coverage of Elon Musk — the paper's 40th Pulitzer. In July the paper reports on a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump's name; Trump sues for defamation.
- 2026
- Trump's earlier defamation suit is dismissed after he "failed to plausibly allege" the paper acted with "actual malice"; in late May he refiles seeking $10 billion.
Sources
10 sources (2 tier 1, 7 tier 2, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
- Supports: The May 2026 refiled $10 billion defamation suit against the Journal's publisher and two reporters over the July 2025 Epstein birthday-letter story; the earlier dismissal ("failed to plausibly allege" actual malice); Dow Jones's "full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting"; legal experts' inability to recall a sitting president suing a news outlet; the September $15 billion suit against the New York Times and December $10 billion suit against the BBC. Open original source
- Supports: Hedcuts invented in 1979 as the Journal's distinctive portrait heads, "attained the status of an American icon"; the spring 2002 donation of hedcuts to the National Portrait Gallery; Fred Taylor's "one word was worth a thousand pictures" line and the paper's legendary resistance to photographs; hedcuts drawn from photographs. Open original source
- Supports: Najib Razak's threat of legal action over the July 2015 WSJ report that almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB funds went to his personal accounts; the report's cited documents (bank transfer forms and flow charts); the prime minister's office calling the report "political sabotage"; the Journal standing by the report. Open original source
- Supports: The 2002 eBay auctions of 582 hedcuts; the stipple method (dots and dashes, not lines) and its tie to stock-certificate and dollar-bill engraving; Kevin Sprouls's start as a Dow Jones marketing-department freelancer; ~10 hedcuts published daily and a 9,000-portrait archive; auction proceeds going to the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund (founded 1958) for minority journalism scholarships; Tiger Woods ($860) and Michael Jordan ($733.45) sale prices. Open original source
- Supports: The A-hed as the apropos-of-nothing Page One feature running since 1943, named for the shape of the headline; Bernard Kilgore's revamp of the paper from "a daily blizzard of random financial data"; circulation rising from 30,000 to over a million under Kilgore; the A-hed as a barometer of the paper's editorial health. Open original source
- Supports: The Journal's paywall launched in 1996 as the industry's early major "hard" paywall ("paying customers only") modeled on the print subscription; CJR's testing found it the tightest among the daily newspapers examined — no metered access, no search exceptions, no cookie reliance. Open original source
- Supports: Murdoch's roughly $5 billion takeover of Dow Jones & Co. and the Journal; the Bancroft family's control "for over a century" and ~37% shareholder-vote backing for the sale; the five-member committee charged with "assuring the continued journalistic and editorial integrity and independence" of Dow Jones's publications; concerns about editorial independence. Open original source
- Supports: First edition printed July 8, 1889 by Charles H. Dow, Edward D. Jones and Charles Bergstresser, sold for two cents; Dow and Jones leaving the Kiernan News Agency in November 1882 to form their own firm at 15 Wall Street; the 1883 printed news sheet as the Journal's forerunner; the Dow Jones Industrial Average first published in 1896; Clarence Barron's 1902 purchase of Dow Jones & Co. for $130,000 (circulation ~7,000); the Bancrofts' control until the 2007 News Corp sale; the paper as the largest-circulation daily in the U.S. in 2014; Daniel Pearl's 2002 kidnapping and murder in Pakistan. Open original source
- Supports: The Journal's staff winning the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its coverage of Elon Musk's political and personal evolution; "This is the Journal's 40th Pulitzer Prize." Open original source
- Emma Tucker Named Next Editor-in-Chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires First-partySupports: Emma Tucker named editor-in-chief (first woman to lead the 133-year-old paper), succeeding Matt Murray effective February 1, 2023; Murray's tenure (named June 2018; 2019 Pulitzer for National Reporting; the Facebook Files; digital-only subscriptions doubling from ~1.6M to ~3.2M); the five-member Dow Jones Special Committee created in 2007 unanimously approving the appointment; Dow Jones as a division of News Corp. Open original source
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