May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Dow Jones & Co. may fetch $100 a share in a takeover, said Michael Price, whose mutual funds were among the industry's best performers during the 1980s and 1990s.

``This is a trophy,'' said Price, whose MFP Investors LLC owned 351,000 Dow Jones shares as of Dec. 31. ``This could be a $100 deal.''

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. yesterday offered $60 a share for the owner of the Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Dow Jones Newswires. The bid, 65 percent above the previous day's close, was rejected by Bancroft family members who control more than 50 percent of the voting power at the New York-based publisher.

``Rupert will meet with the family over the next month, he'll schmooze them,'' Price said in an interview today in New York. ``He'll smoke out other bidders.''

The Dow Jones board is scheduled to meet today, the Wall Street Journal reported. Dow Jones spokesman Howard Hoffman didn't return a phone message seeking comment about the board meeting.

A deal with News Corp., the third-largest U.S. media company, would blend Dow Jones assets with Murdoch's empire of 170 newspapers, stretching from Sydney to New York to London, and its Fox News cable network. Murdoch said in February that his planned Fox business channel will start by the end of this year.

Mutual funds managed by Price owned a 6 percent stake in Dow Jones in 1997. He said in October of that year that the company should consider a merger with Washington Post Co., publisher of the namesake newspaper and Newsweek magazine.

Dow Jones shares slipped 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $56 as of 4:01 p.m. in New York. They jumped 55 percent to $56.20 yesterday for the biggest gain since at least 1980. News Corp. climbed 14 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $21.59 today.

Motorola, Icahn

Price also said today that he's ``a little troubled'' by billionaire investor Carl Icahn's campaign to get a seat on Motorola Inc.'s board.

Icahn published a letter to Motorola shareholders as a full- page advertisement in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, saying the company ``stumbled badly'' under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander.

Motorola, the world's second-biggest maker of mobile phones, opposes the nomination of Icahn, who controls 2.9 percent of the company's stock. Motorola's shareholders will vote on his board nomination at the annual meeting on May 7.

``I don't think Ed Zander needs this distraction at this time,'' said Price. ``Carl has built up a big stake, and I think he's got some serious downside. I don't think he adds anything'' to the board.

MFP Investors owned 200,000 Motorola shares as of December 31. The stock gained 10 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $17.56 today.

Icahn didn't reply to a phone message seeking comment.

Top-Ranked

Price, 56, manages about $2 billion for MFP Investors in Short Hills, New Jersey.

Price sold his former firm, Heine Securities Corp., to Franklin Resources Inc. of San Mateo, California, in November 1996 for more than $600 million. During the 10 years before he sold his business, his four Mutual Series funds ranked in the top 10 percent of all mutual funds tracked by the New York-based research firm Lipper Inc.

Forbes magazine estimated Price's wealth at $1.5 billion, ranking him as the 664th richest person in the world.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with Dow Jones in providing financial news and information.

To contact the reporters on this story: Suzy Assaad in New York at sassaad@bloomberg.net; Michael Patterson in New York at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 2, 2007 16:27 EDT