News Corp patriarch Rupert Murdoch plans to finalize the terms of his “amicable” divorce negotiations with estranged wife Wendi Deng at a court hearing this morning, closing the curtain on a fourteen-year marriage. The 82-year-old Murdoch, who is reportedly dating his (also much younger) massage therapist already, “surprised” Deng with divorce papers over the summer, citing a relationship that “has broken down irretrievably.” But because he’s worth over $13 billion, the hard part is splitting up the stuff.
Deng and the couple’s two young daughters, Grace, 12, and Chloe, 10, are expected to keep the family’s Fifth Avenue penthouse, which was purchased for $44 million in 2005, a Manhattan record at the time. The triplex was previously owned by Laurance S. Rockefeller. She’ll also get the Beijing house.
According to Reuters, the settlement will not affect Murdoch’s now-split companies, because Deng “does not hold a stake in family trust that controls News Corp and Fox. Grace and Chloe have stakes in the trust but they do not hold voting rights.”
But leisure time is taking a hit: The New York Times says, “The boat has been put up for sale.” Previous reports said Murdoch was looking to get rid of his 184-foot yacht, Rosehearty, for an asking price of $29.7 million. Let another man’s mid-to-late-life crisis begin.
Update: It’s over.
