THICK SKIN

The Private Life of Wendi Murdoch

Rupert’s wife keeps her own company.

To many observers of the Murdoch dynasty, Wendi Murdoch is the pink-blazered blur who stopped a pie-wielding protester in his tracks. But the wife of the media world’s most powerful and despised man, Wendi Deng Murdoch has forged a life for herself separate from her husband’s many spheres of influence, according to those who know her. Not to mention a tough exterior to withstand public scrutiny of her family life. The daughter of a Chinese factory director who worked her way through the media world and married Murdoch in 1999, she’s known as a sharp networker. And while News Corp. bats back criticism from every angle, friends say Murdoch’s third wife “actively does not want a role in the company.”