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| accessdate=July 19, 2011}}</ref> less than three weeks after the finalisation of his divorce from his second wife, Anna Maria Torv Murdoch Mann. Wendi and Rupert have two children, Grace (born 2001) and Chloe (born 2003). [[Tony Blair]] is Grace Murdoch's godfather.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10470792/Rupert-Murdoch-in-rift-with-Tony-Blair-over-claims-of-multiple-encounters-with-ex-wife-Wendi-Deng.html 24 Nov 2013 "Rupert Murdoch in rift with Tony Blair over claims of 'multiple' encounters with ex-wife Wendi Deng" Telegraph]</ref> In June 2013, Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng, citing "irreconcilable differences."<ref name="BBC13"/>
| accessdate=July 19, 2011}}</ref> less than three weeks after the finalisation of his divorce from his second wife, Anna Maria Torv Murdoch Mann. Wendi and Rupert have two children, Grace (born 2001) and Chloe (born 2003). [[Tony Blair]] is, controversially, Grace Murdoch's godfather.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10470792/Rupert-Murdoch-in-rift-with-Tony-Blair-over-claims-of-multiple-encounters-with-ex-wife-Wendi-Deng.html 24 Nov 2013 "Rupert Murdoch in rift with Tony Blair over claims of 'multiple' encounters with ex-wife Wendi Deng" Telegraph]</ref> In June 2013, Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng, citing "irreconcilable differences."<ref name="BBC13"/>


On February 5, 2014, Daily Telegraph of UK published a report claiming Deng had a crush on Tony Blair, leading to her divorce from Murdoch. The report also says that " The Australian media mogul began to hear rumours about his wife in 2012 and is said to have interviewed staff members at his various homes to ask them what they had seen.
On February 5, 2014, Daily Telegraph of UK published a report claiming Deng had a crush on Tony Blair, leading to her divorce from Murdoch. The report also says that " The Australian media mogul began to hear rumours about his wife in 2012 and is said to have interviewed staff members at his various homes to ask them what they had seen.

Revision as of 04:40, 11 February 2014

Wendi Deng Murdoch
邓文迪
Wendi Deng Murdoch at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Deng Wenge (邓文革)

(1968-12-08) December 8, 1968 (age 55)[1]
Jinan, Shandong
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBusinessperson
Spouse(s)Jake Cherry (1990–1993)
Rupert Murdoch (1999–2013, divorcing)
ChildrenGrace Murdoch (b. 2001)
Chloe Murdoch (b. 2003)
External image
Wendi Deng
image icon The past. Rupert and Wendi as a happy couple // Lightning (a newspaper), June 15, 2013

Wendi Deng Murdoch (simplified Chinese: 邓文迪; traditional Chinese: 鄧文迪; pinyin: Dèng Wéndí; born December 8, 1968) is a Chinese-born American businesswoman. She was the third wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who filed for divorce from her in June 2013.[2]

In 1988, Deng was sponsored by an American family for a student visa. She attended Cal State Northridge for economics and completed her master's degree in business at the Yale School of Management, where she currently serves on the board of advisors.[3] Deng's debut in the media came with Fox TV. She was offered an internship at Star TV, Hong Kong, part of News Corporation.

Early life and education

Wendi Deng Murdoch was born in Jinan, Shandong, and raised in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Her birth name was Deng Wenge (邓文革),[4] which means "Cultural Revolution".[5] She changed it in her teens when a more open and international mood took hold.[6] She is the third of four children (three daughters, one son) born to engineers.[7] She attended Xuzhou First Secondary School and Xuzhou No. 1 Middle School. She developed an interest in playing volleyball. While she was in high school, her father relocated to Guangzhou, where he worked at the People's Machinery Works; she and her family remained behind for a short while. In 1985, at 16 years old, she enrolled in Guangzhou Medical College.[8]

In 1987, she met an American businessman and his wife, Jake and Joyce Cherry,[9] who had temporarily relocated to China and helped build a refrigerator factory.[9] She studied English with Joyce.[9] In 1988, she abandoned her medical studies and travelled to the United States to study, with Jake and Joyce Cherry sponsoring her student visa[9] (Jake later became Deng's first husband). She enrolled at California State University, Northridge, where she studied economics and was among the top students.[9][10]

She received a bachelor's degree in economics from California State University at Northridge and an MBA from the Yale School of Management, where she currently serves on the board of advisors.[3]

Career

Upon graduation from Yale, she began searching for a job, and met Bruce Churchill via a mutual friend. At that time, Churchill oversaw finance and corporate development at the Fox TV branch in Los Angeles. He subsequently offered Deng an internship at News Corp subsidiary Star TV in Hong Kong, which developed into a full-time junior executive position. Though a junior employee,[11] she took a role in working to plan Star TV's operations in Hong Kong and China, and helped to build up Chinese distribution for Star's "Channel V" music channel. Additionally, she investigated interactive TV opportunities for News Digital Systems.

Deng was a director for the holding company that licensed the MySpace brand and technology to MySpace China and chief of strategy for MySpace's China operation, prior to the company's sale to Specific Media in June, 2011.[12][13] Previously she had been a junior executive at News Corp's Star TV in Hong Kong in 1999. She has led her husband's Chinese internet investments totalling between $35 million and $45m. She has led the way in forming business links with China for high-speed video and internet access.[14]

In 2011, she made her producer debut with the release of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a movie about two footbound children in ancient China.[15][16]

Personal life

Husband Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng in 2011

When Deng was living with Jake and Joyce Cherry during her studies in the United States, Joyce Cherry discovered her husband, Jake, was having an affair with Deng, who was 30 years his junior, and demanded she leave the house. Jake Cherry soon followed and moved in with her,[9] and the two married in 1990.[8] Their marriage lasted 2 years and 7 months before they were legally divorced,[9] but Jake would later explain they only stayed together for 4 or 5 months,[8] when he learned that Deng was spending time with David Wolf, a man closer to her age.[8] Nonetheless, she had been able to secure a green card through her marriage to Cherry.[8][9]

In 1997, she met Rupert Murdoch at a company party in Hong Kong.[10] They married in 1999,[17] less than three weeks after the finalisation of his divorce from his second wife, Anna Maria Torv Murdoch Mann. Wendi and Rupert have two children, Grace (born 2001) and Chloe (born 2003). Tony Blair is, controversially, Grace Murdoch's godfather.[18] In June 2013, Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng, citing "irreconcilable differences."[2]

On February 5, 2014, Daily Telegraph of UK published a report claiming Deng had a crush on Tony Blair, leading to her divorce from Murdoch. The report also says that " The Australian media mogul began to hear rumours about his wife in 2012 and is said to have interviewed staff members at his various homes to ask them what they had seen. According to the magazine, he learned that Mr Blair had visited Miss Deng at the Carmel ranch on more than one occasion. He allegedly spent the weekend of April 27, 2013 with Miss Deng at the property. Other sources are quoted as placing Mr Blair and Miss Deng at the Carlyle hotel in New York, on a private yacht and at Mr Murdoch’s home in London."[19]

Parliamentary committee incident

External videos
Wendi Deng
video icon Wendi Deng sitting behind her husband during phone hacking hearing // BBC
video icon Wendi Deng leaping to her husband’s defence // Telegraph.co.uk

Deng gained press attention when she counter-attacked Jonathan May-Bowles, who pied her husband during a highly publicized testimony before a British parliamentary committee in connection with the News International phone hacking scandal. May-Bowles was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment.[20] The incident was televised and her fame spread, even back to her native China.[21]

References

  1. ^ Lewis, Hilary. "Happy Belated Birthday, Wendi Deng!". Business Insider.
  2. ^ a b "Rupert Murdoch files for divorce from Wendi Deng", BBC News, 13 June 2013
  3. ^ a b Yale School of Management – Board of Advisors. Accessed December 2, 2012.
  4. ^ Ellis, Eric (June 2007). "Wendi Deng Murdoch – A Life". The Monthly. pp. 28–40.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  5. ^ Behind Wendi Deng’s billion-dollar spike
  6. ^ Jonathan Watts (July 20, 2011). "Wendi Deng hailed in China for defending Rupert Murdoch". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Rupert Murdoch's Wife Wendi Wields Influence at NewsCorp". The Wall Street Journal. November 2, 2000. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e Leonard, Tom (November 2, 2000). "How Murdoch's wife won her ticket to America". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Steve Fishman (September 11, 2005). "The Boy Who Wouldn't Be King". New York. New York Media. p. 5. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Wendi Deng: Heiress Apparent?". The Asia Magazine. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
  11. ^ Lippman, John. "Rupert Murdoch's Wife Wendi Wields Influence at News Corp". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  12. ^ Fixmer, Andy (June 29, 2011). "News Corp. Calls Quits on Myspace With Specific Media Sale". Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  13. ^ "Wendi Murdoch to work with MySpace". China Economic Review. July 4, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  14. ^ "Who is Wendi Murdoch?". The Guardian. London. November 5, 2000. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  15. ^ Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Fox Searchlight Pictures. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  16. ^ "Interview of Wendi Deng Murdoch for Swan Flower and the Secret Fan". The Charlie Rose Show. August 25, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  17. ^ "NNDb.com". NNDb.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  18. ^ 24 Nov 2013 "Rupert Murdoch in rift with Tony Blair over claims of 'multiple' encounters with ex-wife Wendi Deng" Telegraph
  19. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10619851/Wendi-Dengs-love-note-for-Tony-Blair-published.html
  20. ^ "CC Murdoch pie thrower reportedly blogging from prison". CNN. August 16, 2011.
  21. ^ Profile: Wendi Deng Murdoch // BBC 14 June 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wendi Murdoch.

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