Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by Liz Garbus, Netflix’s ‘Dynasty: The Murdochs’ is a documentary series following the eldest children of media mogul Rupert Murdoch as they engage in a battle of succession. It gives us an insight into what actually went on behind the scenes for the family before the conclusion of an intense legal battle in 2025 turned everything upside down and settled matters for them. It even places significant focus on the tycoon’s marriages, one of which was to a Chinese-American woman named Wendi Deng, to underscore his complex ambitions as well as hectic lifestyle.
Wendi Deng Has Always Been an Ambitious Woman in Her Own Right
Born as Deng Wen’ge in Shandong, China, Wendi Deng spent her early years in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, alongside her loving engineer parents, Liu Xueqin and Deng Dehui, as well as three supportive siblings. Growing up, she was reportedly a bright individual who never hesitated to let her qualities shine throughout her school years. She also developed a deep passion for volleyball. By the time 1985 rolled around, she enrolled at Guangzhou Medical College in Guangdong in the hopes of successfully establishing herself as a healthcare professional one day.
Wendi was determined to make a name for herself, but soon realized her calling was in the business industry and not medicine. It drove her to drop out three years into her program in 1988. Having changed her given name as a teenager, she subsequently moved to the US without issue before attending California State University-Northridge for a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. She then enrolled at the Ivy League Yale University for a Master’s degree in Business Administration, which she was proud to secure in 1996 as reportedly one of the top-scoring students on campus.
It was not long after that Wendi kick-started her career with an internship at a News Corporation subsidiary called Star TV in Hong Kong, China, which gradually evolved into a full-time position. She actually proved her mettle as a Junior Executive within a year by expanding the reach of the network’s Channel V music channel across the nation, resulting in her being appointed Vice President. She continued to thrive to such an extent that she caught the eye of the top brass, unaware it would lead to a relationship with company owner Rupert Murdoch, who is 37 years her senior.
Wendi Deng Efficiently Balanced Family Life with Her Thriving Business Career
Wendi was merely 22 when she tied the knot for the first time with her US host-turned-lover Jake Cherry in 1990 – earning a green card in the process – but they sadly divorced less than 3 years later. Then, on June 25, 1999, she married Rupert Murdoch on board his private yacht, well aware that it was less than 3 weeks after his divorce from his second wife, Anna Torv Murdoch, was finalized. The couple ultimately welcomed two daughters into the world, Grace in 2001 and Chloe in 2003, yet their union also didn’t pan out as they divorced in 2013 due to “irreconcilable differences.”
During the 14 years Wendi and Rupert were happily together, she was deeply involved in his business endeavors while also establishing herself as an entrepreneur and socialite. According to records, she played a significant role in investigating television opportunities for News Digital Systems and later managed all of her husband’s Chinese internet/tech investments. As if that’s not enough, she was a primary advisor for MySpace’s China op erations, co-founded the creative online platform Artsy in 2009, and grew into a full-fledged film producer in her own right.
Wendi Deng Continues to Champion Art, Science, and Family
It was in 2011 when Wendi made her debut in the entertainment industry as a producer of ‘Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,’ following which she financed a short film titled ‘Big Feet’ that same year. She then produced a documentary film titled ‘Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang,’ which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016 before being released on Netflix in October 2016. Less than two years later, in 2018, she even made a guest appearance as herself in Gary Ross’ comedy-heist thriller ‘Ocean’s 8,’ which is a spin-off of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s franchise.
Furthermore, since 2015, Wendi has been serving as Co-CEO at Global Citizenship & Investment Migration Partners, focusing on equity, growth, and venture acquisitions across the US and China. She is even partly responsible for transforming her creative online platform Artsy into arguably one of the largest companies in the fine arts industry, which she is incredibly passionate about. The avid reader has always been a loud and proud supporter of art in all forms, but she admits she has a soft spot for Chinese contemporary art and cultural projects.
It’s also worth noting that Wendi was an early investor in several start-ups that have done very well over the years, including Oscar Health, Snapchat, Uber, and Warby Parker. She is thus wildly successful in her own right, enabling her to dabble in art as much as she desires, spread her wings as a socialite, and maintain a close network across several industries. The New York resident has also been a constant fixture at the MET Gala in the past few years, all the while providing for her two daughters to the best of her abilities and traveling the globe to undertake new experiences. From what we can tell, she visited Japan in May 2025, has explored several European nations, often travels to China to meet family, and even splits time between California and Nevada for work.
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