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Rupert Murdoch Divorcing Wife Wendi After 14 Years

By Betty Wang, JD on June 13, 2013 | Last updated on December 13, 2021

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife of 14 years, Wendi Deng Murdoch, The New York Times reports. If Murdoch's previous matrimonial splits are any indication, it could be quite an expensive affair.

The CEO of News Corporation and creator of Fox Broadcasting Company, Murdoch and his soon-to-be former wife Wendi had two kids together. A representative from News Corporation confirmed the divorce filing, which apparently states that the marriage has been irretrievably broken for more than six months.

Murdoch, 82, is no stranger to divorces, having been been married twice before he wed Deng, 44, in 1999. Let's meet the (other) Murdochs, shall we?

Wendi Deng

The former Wendi Deng, who's now set to become Murdoch's latest ex-wife, met Murdoch at a company party in Hong Kong in 1997. Deng, a Yale graduate, has been attributed to remaking Murdoch, assimilating him into today's more modern, tech-driven culture, reports The Guardian.

Details about the divorce are sketchy right now, but the couple are believed to have filed for joint custody of their children. A prenuptial agreement was reportedly signed, along with two additional agreements in 2002 and 2004, according to The Guardian.

Without a prenup, assets in a New York divorce are generally divided based on the concept of equitable distribution, which doesn't always work out to be 50/50.

Anna Torv

Murdoch married the former Anna Torv, a journalist at the time, in 1967. They were married for 31 years, and have three now-adult children together. A year after their divorce, Murdoch married Deng. Torv has cited Murdoch's affair with Deng and unwillingness to repair their then-marriage to their ultimate split, according to Jezebel.

Murdoch's divorce from Torv is reported to have cost the media mogul $1.7 billion, including $110 million in cash, according to The New York Times.

Patricia Booker

The former Patricia Booker was a flight attendant from Melbourne when Murdoch married her in 1956. They had his first child together, Prudence, in 1958, and later divorced in 1967. Booker has since passed, in 2000.

Murdoch is worth $11.2 billion as of March 2013, according to Forbes. But without knowing more details about the couple's prenup or other agreements, it's not clear how much Wendi will be getting from the split.

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