Divorce Pact Eludes Murdoch the Deal Maker

Within the last few weeks, Rupert Murdoch has negotiated multibillion-dollar transactions at his usual frenetic pace.

But there’s one deal that has eluded the billionaire media mogul: a divorce settlement with his wife, Anna.

Settlement talks between the Murdochs have been dragging out much longer than expected, according to sources close to both sides.

That’s primarily because Anna Murdoch’s lawyers, sources say, are finding that getting their arms around the value of his complex collection of assets is far more difficult than expected, and the chore keeps getting harder with every new deal. Just two weeks ago, Murdoch agreed to buy out Liberty Media Corp. as a partner in his cable sports operations for $1.4 billion worth of stock in his primary company, News Corp.

“It literally changes every day,” said one source close to Anna Murdoch.

Still, people close to both sides dispute persistent speculation of a potential nasty court fight, or that a settlement on the division of assets will in any way significantly weaken Murdoch’s control of his media company.

They insist that Murdoch and his wife are in agreement that ultimately they will act in the best interest of their three children, and that they do not want to do anything that would hurt the eventual handing over of Murdoch’s global media empire to them. News Corp. owns such diverse assets as the Fox network, the 20th Century Fox studio, newspapers, cable and satellite TV operations, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Still, one potential point Anna Murdoch’s lawyers are expected to push for is a “control-sharing arrangement” in which she would have equal say should Murdoch ever consider selling News Corp.

Anna Murdoch’s lawyers recently hired attorneys in Australia to help compile an estimate of assets, sources said.

Forbes magazine estimated Murdoch’s personal net worth last fall at $5.6 billion, which undoubtedly is much higher now because News Corp.’s stock has climbed. Through trusts, he controls 30.1% of News Corp.

The Murdochs separated in June after 31 years of marriage. Anna Murdoch, a novelist, filed for divorce July 21 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She resigned as a director of News Corp. in October.

Her lawyer, Daniel Jaffe, declined to comment on the case. Rupert Murdoch’s spokesman, New York public relations executive Howard Rubenstein, said Murdoch would not comment further on the divorce.

In an interview for a Los Angeles Times Magazine piece that was published in January, Murdoch dismissed suggestions that the divorce would affect control of the business.

“All of the shares are in unbreakable trusts for the children and grandchildren. And my wife would do nothing to hurt the children,” Murdoch said.

The Murdochs have three adult children, Lachlan, Elisabeth and James.

Murdoch has another daughter, Prudence, from his first marriage. Lachlan is widely considered the heir apparent.

Court documents filed recently in Los Angeles say the two sides “have engaged, and continue to engage, in good-faith settlement discussions.”

Sources said Rupert Murdoch has found the process frustrating and is impatient for the matter to be resolved.

Sources close to Anna Murdoch said the case will most likely be settled rather than go to trial, and they put a timetable on the resolution of three to six months from now.

An additional complication in the negotiations is said to be Murdoch’s high-profile relationship with 31-year-old Wendy Deng, an executive at his Star TV subsidiary. “It certainly hasn’t helped things,” said one source in Anna Murdoch’s camp.

Rubenstein has previously been quoted as saying that Murdoch did not start dating Deng until after the separation.

In the Times Magazine piece in January, Murdoch said: “It’s no secret that I’ve been legally separated for some time. If I’m seen with a lady on my arm, it’s news. But the fact is, I’ve been legally separated for some time.”

For her part, Anna Murdoch has been linked publicly in news reports to New York businessman William Mann.

One outcome of any settlement will presumably be an easing of a media frenzy in Britain and Australia, where Murdoch’s competitors in the newspaper business have relished putting his private life in play, just as Murdoch’s own newspapers regularly make the rich and famous squirm.

Britain’s Punch magazine, which is particularly enthusiastic about targeting Murdoch, recently published a cover story on Deng titled, “Murdoch’s Mistress: The Secret Life of the Woman Who Snared the Big One.” The article, dubbed “The story Fleet Street won’t tell you,” begins with the word “Gotcha!’ and at one point refers to the mogul as “Viagra-chomping Rupert Murdoch.”

Rupert and Anna Murdoch were together briefly last month--and posed for family pictures--in Australia at the wedding of son Lachlan to model Sara O’Hare.

According to an account in the Financial Times of London, Anna Murdoch stood for a wedding speech and said: “Now I have the microphone, and one man in the room must be rather nervous.”