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| Has Rupert Murdoch learned anything from yet another divorce? | Has Rupert Murdoch learned anything from yet another divorce? |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| By early last week, cooler heads were trying to step in between the Murdochs to prevent the nuclear retaliation of all parties involved. The first shot had been fired in anger by Murdoch himself in a sudden filing of a divorce action against his third wife Wendi. In Murdoch fashion, this provoked, by design or by reflex, a great unleashing of the poison pens that are always poised around him. | By early last week, cooler heads were trying to step in between the Murdochs to prevent the nuclear retaliation of all parties involved. The first shot had been fired in anger by Murdoch himself in a sudden filing of a divorce action against his third wife Wendi. In Murdoch fashion, this provoked, by design or by reflex, a great unleashing of the poison pens that are always poised around him. |
| The leak to Deadline Hollywood that divorce papers were filed was said to have come from Fox Studios. Rumors about Wendi's friendship with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair were encouraged by News Corp sources (Blair has denied any serious relationship). Wendi, aggrieved and frightened, and apparently as shocked by the divorce filing as anybody else, was telling friends that News Corp was briefing against her. | The leak to Deadline Hollywood that divorce papers were filed was said to have come from Fox Studios. Rumors about Wendi's friendship with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair were encouraged by News Corp sources (Blair has denied any serious relationship). Wendi, aggrieved and frightened, and apparently as shocked by the divorce filing as anybody else, was telling friends that News Corp was briefing against her. |
| On the one hand, the story – the archetypal Murdoch story – was about a man who strikes before being struck, or who strikes harder after being struck. One unconfirmed report had Wendi – famous for the punch she delivered to the man who tried to pie her husband when he testified before British parliament two summers ago – giving Rupert a black eye the day before the filing. | On the one hand, the story – the archetypal Murdoch story – was about a man who strikes before being struck, or who strikes harder after being struck. One unconfirmed report had Wendi – famous for the punch she delivered to the man who tried to pie her husband when he testified before British parliament two summers ago – giving Rupert a black eye the day before the filing. |
| On the other hand, it is a story about a man who, while devoting his life to making himself invulnerable, seems in recent years more and more beset by emotion tumult and confusion. His relationship with Wendi, who he met in 1997 and married in 1999, frames a story of great angst and, perhaps, an unrequited quest for happiness. | On the other hand, it is a story about a man who, while devoting his life to making himself invulnerable, seems in recent years more and more beset by emotion tumult and confusion. His relationship with Wendi, who he met in 1997 and married in 1999, frames a story of great angst and, perhaps, an unrequited quest for happiness. |
| His 32-year marriage to his second wife Anna, the mother of three of his children, had been ailing for several years. He had promised to retire, or at least drastically cut his work load. Instead, he upped his game. The result: they lived in their big Hollywood house, where they were then based, in separate camps. He was known to have wandered the Fox offices in Los Angeles every night desperately looking for people to have dinner with – Murdoch executives learned to have the excuses ready. | His 32-year marriage to his second wife Anna, the mother of three of his children, had been ailing for several years. He had promised to retire, or at least drastically cut his work load. Instead, he upped his game. The result: they lived in their big Hollywood house, where they were then based, in separate camps. He was known to have wandered the Fox offices in Los Angeles every night desperately looking for people to have dinner with – Murdoch executives learned to have the excuses ready. |
| Then, on a trip to Star TV, his Hong Kong based television company, he met Wendi Deng, 28, whose first job in the US was in a Chinese restaurant, now a graduate of Yale business school and already the mascot and heartthrob of the Star office. There are two camps here, one that credits the relationship to her wiles, the other to his needs. But, in short order, he was calling her boss at Star to say that she would be taking a week off. And, in fact, might not be coming back at all. He hid the affair from his wife and family, and let the tensions with Anna grow, until she finally said, "maybe we should get a divorce". To which he said: "Maybe we should," and promptly moved out. | Then, on a trip to Star TV, his Hong Kong based television company, he met Wendi Deng, 28, whose first job in the US was in a Chinese restaurant, now a graduate of Yale business school and already the mascot and heartthrob of the Star office. There are two camps here, one that credits the relationship to her wiles, the other to his needs. But, in short order, he was calling her boss at Star to say that she would be taking a week off. And, in fact, might not be coming back at all. He hid the affair from his wife and family, and let the tensions with Anna grow, until she finally said, "maybe we should get a divorce". To which he said: "Maybe we should," and promptly moved out. |
| Save for his then 89-year-old mother's insistence that Rupert and Anna come to Australia to discuss their problems with her, he never spoke to Anna again. | Save for his then 89-year-old mother's insistence that Rupert and Anna come to Australia to discuss their problems with her, he never spoke to Anna again. |
| Three months after his separation he called Prue, his daughter by his first wife Patricia, to tell her about Deng. A version of holy hell began in his family, or what his daughter Elisabeth describes as "our four years of dysfunction," with Murdoch's beloved children, Lachlan and James, along with Elisabeth (Prue, who never got a long with Anna, remained his ally), closing the iron door on him. | Three months after his separation he called Prue, his daughter by his first wife Patricia, to tell her about Deng. A version of holy hell began in his family, or what his daughter Elisabeth describes as "our four years of dysfunction," with Murdoch's beloved children, Lachlan and James, along with Elisabeth (Prue, who never got a long with Anna, remained his ally), closing the iron door on him. |
| Elisabeth publicly broke up her own marriage, which Murdoch takes some of the blame for, in an affair with the London PR man Mathew Freud, who Murdoch detested. His son Lachlan, after a bruising battle with company executives, quit his News Corp.. job in what Murdoch believed to be more fallout from his broken marriage. His mother vowed never to speak to Wendi – and never did. | Elisabeth publicly broke up her own marriage, which Murdoch takes some of the blame for, in an affair with the London PR man Mathew Freud, who Murdoch detested. His son Lachlan, after a bruising battle with company executives, quit his News Corp.. job in what Murdoch believed to be more fallout from his broken marriage. His mother vowed never to speak to Wendi – and never did. |
| Then he got prostate cancer which led, in quick succession, to two more children, and more accusations from his family and his executives about Wendi's wiles. The new children, Grace and Chloe, led, initially to a rapprochement in the family, but this in tern led to a series of new alliances, of Wendi's camp versus other camps. James and now son-in-law Matthew Freud were in the Wendi camp. Lachlan and Elisabeth still firmly on their mother Anna's side. | Then he got prostate cancer which led, in quick succession, to two more children, and more accusations from his family and his executives about Wendi's wiles. The new children, Grace and Chloe, led, initially to a rapprochement in the family, but this in tern led to a series of new alliances, of Wendi's camp versus other camps. James and now son-in-law Matthew Freud were in the Wendi camp. Lachlan and Elisabeth still firmly on their mother Anna's side. |
| Rupert, in person deeply conflict averse, suddenly had inheritance issues to deal with. In exchange for an on-the-cheap divorce from Anna (only $100m –whereas, in California, she could have claimed half of his $7bn fortune), Rupert had agreed to make the family trust immutable. But now, in addition to two new children, he had a determined wife. A year of negotiations commenced among his children, New Corp executives, and outside advisors: new family against old. | Rupert, in person deeply conflict averse, suddenly had inheritance issues to deal with. In exchange for an on-the-cheap divorce from Anna (only $100m –whereas, in California, she could have claimed half of his $7bn fortune), Rupert had agreed to make the family trust immutable. But now, in addition to two new children, he had a determined wife. A year of negotiations commenced among his children, New Corp executives, and outside advisors: new family against old. |
| Ultimately the deal made nobody happy – particularly not Wendi: in exchange for immediate cash, his adult children agreed to divide the trust six ways instead of four; at the same time they refused to allow his new children a vote. Unable to directly tell Wendi this, he mentioned it during an interview on Charlie Rose, provoking expulsion from his house and a domestic row. Indeed, he would continue to tell Wendi that this was not the case and he had a plan for how Grace and Chloe would eventually inherit power in the company, too. | Ultimately the deal made nobody happy – particularly not Wendi: in exchange for immediate cash, his adult children agreed to divide the trust six ways instead of four; at the same time they refused to allow his new children a vote. Unable to directly tell Wendi this, he mentioned it during an interview on Charlie Rose, provoking expulsion from his house and a domestic row. Indeed, he would continue to tell Wendi that this was not the case and he had a plan for how Grace and Chloe would eventually inherit power in the company, too. |
| It was after this that Wendi began a more conscious and calculated courtship of her own advisors and partisans, making her own claim on the Murdoch name and status. Whether she was having, or had had, an affair with Chris DeWolfe, the head of MySpace which News Corp acquired in 2005, became a preoccupation with News Corp executives who were successfully able to convince the LA Times not to run its story about the possible affair. | |
| In a sense, an affair, if there was one, was only part of a larger point: Wendi was developing a set of independent social and business relationships. Indeed, there was a whole new liberal Hollywood set that she was part of and that was suddenly surrounding her husband, who seemed to like it. Rupert, who had never been good at making friends, suddenly had a lot of new ones. | In a sense, an affair, if there was one, was only part of a larger point: Wendi was developing a set of independent social and business relationships. Indeed, there was a whole new liberal Hollywood set that she was part of and that was suddenly surrounding her husband, who seemed to like it. Rupert, who had never been good at making friends, suddenly had a lot of new ones. |
| In a world whose main currency was having Rupert's ear, Wendi had altered the balance of power, to the consternation of executives and family. There followed the orange hair; the Prada suits; the kooky diets. And there was the discordant Wendi voice: not just her accent, widely mocked, but her straightforwardness: her mentioning Rupert's Viagra in Vanity Fair; and her own often hilarious jibs, complete with mimicry, albeit with a Chinese accent, at the other members of Murdoch family. | In a world whose main currency was having Rupert's ear, Wendi had altered the balance of power, to the consternation of executives and family. There followed the orange hair; the Prada suits; the kooky diets. And there was the discordant Wendi voice: not just her accent, widely mocked, but her straightforwardness: her mentioning Rupert's Viagra in Vanity Fair; and her own often hilarious jibs, complete with mimicry, albeit with a Chinese accent, at the other members of Murdoch family. |
| What to do about Wendi became a major corporate and family preoccupation – and a constant worry for Murdoch himself. Buying the most expensive apartment in New York and having her decorate it was one of Murdoch's strategies to keep her busy. Encouraging her to produce movies was another. Still, he liked being with her. In public, he would take her hand. She became a key aide during his 2007 takeover of the Wall Street Journal. | What to do about Wendi became a major corporate and family preoccupation – and a constant worry for Murdoch himself. Buying the most expensive apartment in New York and having her decorate it was one of Murdoch's strategies to keep her busy. Encouraging her to produce movies was another. Still, he liked being with her. In public, he would take her hand. She became a key aide during his 2007 takeover of the Wall Street Journal. |
| At least one intimate judged that an abiding concern for Rupert in the 2008 and 2009 period was holding his marriage together – that it was an issue for him of pride. It was important for him not to fail at what everyone said would fail. The winds and cross currents between them were very strong with almost nobody, in the family or in the company, ready to say if they were becoming closer or growing further apart. Not least of all because Rupert, trying to cater to all the various interests of his court, often told people what they wanted to hear. | At least one intimate judged that an abiding concern for Rupert in the 2008 and 2009 period was holding his marriage together – that it was an issue for him of pride. It was important for him not to fail at what everyone said would fail. The winds and cross currents between them were very strong with almost nobody, in the family or in the company, ready to say if they were becoming closer or growing further apart. Not least of all because Rupert, trying to cater to all the various interests of his court, often told people what they wanted to hear. |
| Vacationing with Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg on Diller's yacht, they appeared to be deeply in love. Not long afterwards, he told his son Lachlan it was over. At some point, Wendi's base of social gravity moved from the media set – David Geffen, Barbara Walters, Ivanka Trump, Arianna Huffington, Graydon Carter – to a different jet set. Dasha Zhukova, the girlfriend of Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich, and Larry Gagosian, the international art dealer, became her close friends and business partners. | Vacationing with Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg on Diller's yacht, they appeared to be deeply in love. Not long afterwards, he told his son Lachlan it was over. At some point, Wendi's base of social gravity moved from the media set – David Geffen, Barbara Walters, Ivanka Trump, Arianna Huffington, Graydon Carter – to a different jet set. Dasha Zhukova, the girlfriend of Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich, and Larry Gagosian, the international art dealer, became her close friends and business partners. |
| An article in the New York Times quoted sources described as friend's of Wendi as saying she was living more and more an independent life. In fact, she was, trying to hold on to her life, while Rupert, in the company of trainers and massage therapists, seemed to be more and more removed from her. Wendi had made a particular enemy of Joel Klein, the lawyer and News Corp executive who more and more was Rupert's closest corporate confidant and one of the company's chief plotters. What's more, the most damaging results of the hacking scandal for Murdoch had been an increasing breach with his children and an urgency, on his part, to calm the internecine feuding. Wendi, again, was the odd person out, even the expendable one in the Murdoch family. | |
| A curious element, pointed out by Murdoch biography Neil Chenoweth, is that Murdoch has not really had the money to divorce her. His cash is tied up in News Corp voting shares, which he is always loathe to sell. But the death of this mother, six months ago, passes her 10% interest in the Murdoch family trust to him – potentially freeing up a few hundred million dollars. It is one way that Murdoch has had for resolving the stormy issues of his life. When you can fight no more, you just leave it, and never look back. | A curious element, pointed out by Murdoch biography Neil Chenoweth, is that Murdoch has not really had the money to divorce her. His cash is tied up in News Corp voting shares, which he is always loathe to sell. But the death of this mother, six months ago, passes her 10% interest in the Murdoch family trust to him – potentially freeing up a few hundred million dollars. It is one way that Murdoch has had for resolving the stormy issues of his life. When you can fight no more, you just leave it, and never look back. |
| On June 6, Rupert and Wendi were scheduled to attend Henry Kissinger's 90th birthday in New York. Wendi came alone. A week later the divorce was filed – accompanied by all the Murdoch signals of what might happen if Wendi did not make her peace with it. | On June 6, Rupert and Wendi were scheduled to attend Henry Kissinger's 90th birthday in New York. Wendi came alone. A week later the divorce was filed – accompanied by all the Murdoch signals of what might happen if Wendi did not make her peace with it. |
| Murdoch will appear as a cold man cutting his losses. But the many years of turmoil, of his stumbling and inchoate efforts at personal happiness, must yet be incredibly painful, if not wholly humanizing. | Murdoch will appear as a cold man cutting his losses. But the many years of turmoil, of his stumbling and inchoate efforts at personal happiness, must yet be incredibly painful, if not wholly humanizing. |