LOS ANGELES – News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from Wendi Deng Murdoch, his wife since 1999, citing a breakdown in the relationship.
The matter doesn’t alter the succession plan for the media company, which the 82-year-old founder controls through a family trust.
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Murdoch filed a one-page document Thursday indicating that he was opening a divorce case in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
A sealed document with the filing says “the relationship between the husband and wife has broken down irretrievably,” according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The couple are parents to two daughters, Grace and Chloe, ages 11 and 9. The girls have no voting stake in the company, but they are beneficiaries of 8.7 million non-voting shares that are held in a trust.
Wendi Deng Murdoch, 44, also has non-voting shares.
Murdoch controls nearly 40 percent of the voting shares of News Corp. through a separate family trust. He has four other children from two previous marriages, including three who have active roles within the company: James, Lachlan and Elisabeth.
All four children, including Prudence, his child from his first marriage, have equal votes in electing trustees. That means that upon Murdoch’s death, his four eldest children will continue to have the most say in who controls News Corp.
Sarah Palin rejoins Fox News Channel starting Monday
NEW YORK – Sarah Palin is rejoining Fox News Channel.
The network said Thursday that the former Republican vice presidential candidate has signed on as a contributor to Fox and the Fox Business Network. Her first appearance is scheduled for Monday on the “Fox & Friends” morning show — on the same day CNN is premiering a morning show to great fanfare.
Fox and Palin parted ways in January after she had worked there for three years as a contributor. They had talked about renewing their contract, but it didn’t happen. Money may have been a factor: Palin was signed for a reported $1 million a year when she originally joined Fox.
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