Dow Jones CFO O'Melia resigns after 16-month stint - source

By Yuvraj Malik

(Reuters) -Dow Jones Chief Financial Officer Liz O'Melia has resigned from the company after about 16 months at the role, a person familiar with the development told Reuters on Thursday.

News Corp unit Dow Jones, which owns the Wall Street Journal, has begun the search for a new CFO after O'Melia resigned "a few weeks ago", the person said.

O'Melia was CFO at S&P Ratings before joining Dow Jones in May last year.

The Financial Times first reported the departure. O'Melia could not be reached for a comment.

The development comes days after activist hedge fund Starboard Value's CEO Jeff Smith said News Corp was trading at a big discount to the value of its assets and should consider spinning off some of them.

Starboard began building a stake in News Corp over the summer, before Rupert Murdoch, 92, announced on Sept 21 that he would step down as chairman, leaving his son Lachlan as sole chair, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

Reuters competes with the Wall Street Journal in some markets.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)