Media magnate Murdoch divorces third wife

Google – AFP, 13 June 2013

Rupert Murdoch (L) and his wife Wendi Deng in Shanghai in June 11, 2011

(AFP/File, Philippe Lopez)

NEW YORK — News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has filed to divorce his third wife, Wendi Deng, after their marriage became "irretrievably broken," his spokesman said.

Murdoch's Chinese-born wife gained notoriety in 2011 when she leapt to defend her husband from a pie-wielding protester. The divorce comes as News Corp is being split into independent publishing and entertainment firms.

"I can confirm for the record that Rupert filed in New York State Supreme Court this morning for divorce," his spokesman Steven Rubenstein told AFP.

Deng, 44, is 38 years younger than Murdoch, who is Australian-born but now a US citizen and is 82 years old.

They were married in 1999 aboard a private yacht that Murdoch had reportedly bought for his retirement, and they have two daughters, Grace and Chloe.

News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch (L) and his

 wife Wendi Deng pose at the Cannes Film

 Festival on May 16, 2011 (AFP/File,

Anne-Christine Poujoulat)

The news comes two days after News Corp shareholders approved a plan to split the Murdoch-led conglomerate into two independent firms.

One company will focus on news and publishing and retain the News Corp name. The other will concentrate on television and film and will be called 21st Century Fox.

Murdoch will remain in charge of both firms after the split, as chairman and chief executive of 21st Century Fox, and executive chairman of the new News Corporation.

Deng holds no formal role in the company but had been a longtime presence at her husband's side.

She met Murdoch while working at his Star Television company in Hong Kong, where former colleagues have described her as an expert networker with big ambitions.

Born in the eastern Chinese city of Xuzhou in 1968 -- at the height of the Cultural Revolution -- she left China at 19 to study in the United States. She graduated from the Yale School of Management in 1996.

Murdoch has spent a lifetime building his News Corp empire from a single Australian newspaper he inherited.

He moved to London where his purchase of the weekly News of the World in 1969 gave him a high-profile foothold in the British market. He went on to buy The Sun, a daily which he turned into a popular and big-selling tabloid.

The success of his London-based newspapers helped finance his 1981 purchase of The Times and Sunday Times, both prestigious broadsheets, in an acquisition that met with intense opposition from parts of Britain's establishment.

News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch (L) and 

Wendi Deng drive away from the High Court

 in central London, April 25, 2012 (AFP/File,

Justin Tallis)

He relocated to the United States where more bold acquisitions followed and where he became a naturalized US citizen in 1985.

The conglomerate made a string of high-profile acquisitions, including the Fox broadcast and Hollywood studios, and the Wall Street Journal.

His youngest son James, 40, is believed to be the heir apparent to the media-entertainment empire.

James oversaw the closure of the the 168-year-old News of The World tabloid, which folded on July 9 after the revelation the tabloid hacked into the phones of murdered teenager Milly Dowler and the families of dead soldiers.

James was named News Corp's deputy chief operating officer in March 2011 and serves as chief executive of the news and entertainment giant's international operations.

In 1998, Murdoch and his second wife, Anna, separated after 32 years of marriage. She then filed for divorce in California courts.

The three Murdoch children from his second marriage -- Elizabeth, Lachlan and James -- have worked for the family empire or served on the board of directors.

Murdoch previously was married to Patricia Booker, an Australian flight attendant, with whom he had one daughter.

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Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon, how do we know when a divorce is appropriate or not?

Answer: It’s appropriate when the energy and consciousness of the one is on a different reality from the other, and it’s obvious that it will never change.

This isn’t about enlightenment, either. It’s about your individual paths. Although contrary to your society, the rules of the church, and what your family wishes for you, sometimes you go through "partnership stages" that are appropriate but temporary. It can also be between two enlightened souls who simply needed to be together for a while.

So if you’re going to separate a partnership, do it with integrity. Do it in a way where you offer friendship. Do it with wisdom and maturity. Never slam the door. Offer the other person your maturity all your life, and always give them the opportunity for forgiveness and discussion.

As you grow older, you’ll eventually see the dynamics of growth, and why a temporary partnership might have been needed in your own personal path, or in theirs. Sometimes it’s only about being a time placeholder, keeping each other in a place so that something else could happen. Each path is different, and there are as many who will stay together until they stand and hold hands on the other side of the veil. Then they’ll do it again the next time around! Don’t pass judgment either way. There is appropriateness in many things that result in growth and maturity for either or both of those involved.

As I discussed before, your cultural rules are often designed to look like they’re also the "rules of God," but often they’re just the rules of Humans who are doing their best, without full understanding of how big God really is.