Dow Jones CEO Exits. Enter Thomson?

Rumblings of a major shakeup have been escaping from Dow Jones headquarters for a few days now, and it's suddenly clear why: CEO Richard Zannino is stepping down.

"Zannino's departure marks the beginning of high-level management changes that [Rupert] Murdoch's News Corp. is poised to begin announcing next week, according to people privy to the plans," says Newsweek. He'll walk away with a $30 million severance package.

A Dow Jones spokesman hasn't yet responded to my requests for comment, but it's likely those changes will also involve Robert Thomson, the current editor of the News Corp.-owned Times of London. British press reports have Thomson stepping down at the Time in the next few days. While some reports have suggested he'll become the Journal's publisher, I've been told it would be a higher-level job. Could it be Zannino's? It's worth noting that, prior to Zannino, Dow Jones had a tradition of picking CEOs from the ranks of journalists, not business types -- not that tradition means anything once Rupert Murdoch's in the picture.

Update, 2:53 p.m.: Dow Jones confirms Zannino is out.

Update 2, 6:16 p.m.: Nope, Thomson won't be the CEO, at least not according to the Journal's own reporting. It'll be longtime New Corp. executive Les Hinton. Thomson will, in fact, be the publisher, though that's not yet official.