Murdoch’s wife leaps into global spotlight

Full-blooded swing at her hubby’s assailant reminded of her ‘volleyball days’:

CHINA: Wendi Deng, who has emerged as an unlikely heroine after leaping to defend her 80-year-old husband Rupert Murdoch from a pie-wielding protester, has a reputation for fierce loyalty and ambition.

Her full-blooded swing at her husband’s assailant during a British parliamentary hearing on the News of the World phone hacking scandal has catapulted the former volleyball player into the global spotlight.

But even before that, the Chinese-born American was known as a formidable operator at the heart of one of the world’s most powerful families.

Although she holds no formal role in the company, Deng remains a constant presence at her husband’s side and is said to take an active interest in his business affairs. The couple’s two young daughters will inherit a large stake in Murdoch’s News Corporation — a huge media conglomerate that owns newspapers and television companies around the world, including Fox and Sky TV.

Deng, who at 42 is 38 years Murdoch’s junior, met her media tycoon husband while working at his Star Television company in Hong Kong, where former colleagues have described her as an expert networker with big ambitions.

AFP