'I was shocked': Rupert Murdoch opens up about ex-wife Wendi's 'love note' to Tony Blair and the betrayal that made him file for divorce 'as soon as I could find a lawyer'
The media mogul revealed he only learned of his ex-wife's diary entries after he filed for divorce
In the entries, Deng described having 'warm feelings' and a 'crush' for Blair
Blair allegedly spent weekends at the Murdoch ranch while the 83-year-old was overseas
In an interview with Fortune magazine, the News Corporation boss explained that he first heard of the alleged encounters while in Australia
He said he immediately traveled back to the ranch to quiz the staff - and then he scrambled to find a lawyer
Deng's love notes were featured in the March issue of Vanity Fair
Billionaire tells how he has 'turned a new leaf' since the divorce and bought a 13-acre vineyard in California and a $57.25 million lavish New York pad
By HELEN POW
PUBLISHED: 14:46 GMT, 10 April 2014 | UPDATED: 07:04 GMT, 11 April 2014
209 shares 245View
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Rupert Murdoch has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Wendi Deng, and the moment he learned she had spent secret weekends with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his family's California ranch.
The Australian media mogul also revealed he was 'shocked' when he first read his ex-wife's diary entries in which she described having 'warm feelings' comparable to a 'crush' on Blair, who allegedly stayed at the ranch with Deng in October 2012 and April 2013 while the 83-year-old was overseas.
In an interview with Fortune magazine, the News Corporation boss explained that he first heard of the encounters while in Australia and immediately traveled back to the ranch to quiz the staff - and then he scrambled to find a lawyer.
Scroll down for video
Shocked: Rupert Murdoch, left, has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Wendi Deng, right, and the moment he learned she had spent secret weekends with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his ranch +7
Shocked: Rupert Murdoch, left, has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Wendi Deng, right, and the moment he learned she had spent secret weekends with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his ranch
'Well, you know, everybody was talking about these things and never telling me anything... But then I was told two pretty circumstantial things about the ranch [where Deng had been staying],' he said.
'I was in Australia. When I got back, I naturally asked the staff, and it opened up. That's the story. And then, you know, a week later I filed. As soon as I could find a lawyer.'
The couple divorced last November after 14 years of marriage.
Murdoch said he wasn't given Deng's diary entries until after he filed for divorce. He said he was 'shocked' by the love notes, but didn't read them.
Crush: Deng reportedly wrote of having 'warm feelings' for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, pictured +7
Crush: Deng reportedly wrote of having 'warm feelings' for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, pictured
He said the revelation made him feel he'd made the right decision, but he regretted the fact the diary entries made worldwide headlines.
'I regret the whole Vanity Fair thing. I wish we just could have got divorced quietly,' he told Fortune.
Details of lovestruck Deng's note, in which she praised Blair's 'good body,' his 'really, really good legs' and even his 'butt' were revealed by Vanity Fair in February.
It said staff at Murdoch's home were uneasy when Blair arrived and tried to find her.
The magazine claimed they told him Deng had gone to the master bedroom, but 'by the time they could tell her, Blair was looking for her, they found Blair walking into the master bedroom and closing the door behind him.'
On another occasion 'they were feeding each other during dinner, which made the staff uncomfortable.'
Blair, who is godfather to one of Murdoch and Deng's daughters, has always denied he had an affair with Deng and there is no evidence to suggest that is the case.
The Middle East envoy, 60, is married to barrister Cherie Blair.
As well as the 'multiple' overnight stays at the expansive Carmel ranch, the pair are also believed to have met on a super-yacht owned by music industry billionaire David Geffen.
It was earlier reported that Murdoch learned of his ex-wife and Blair's encounters after she inadvertently sent an email to the wrong person, including details of his trip to the ranch. That's when Murdoch went to Carmel and asked the household staff if it was true.
Ranch: Murdoch revealed he asked his staff at the Carmel, California, ranch, pictured, about the rumors and then scrambled to find a lawyer +7
Ranch: Murdoch revealed he asked his staff at the Carmel, California, ranch, pictured, about the rumors and then scrambled to find a lawyer
They told him Blair had stayed there with Deng on two weekends in October 2012 and April 2013.
Five months on from the divorce, Murdoch said he's 'turning over a new leaf,' buying a new California ranch and a lavish apartment in New York.
He said he bought 13-acre vineyard, Moraga, for $28.8 million after he saw a story in the Wall Street Journal Mansion section about the owner, Tom Jones who was a former CEO of Northrop, and remembered he'd met him 25 years ago with President Reagan at a social party.
'He was dying because he was 93 and had very bad emphysema,' he told Fortune. 'And he wanted to sell it to someone who said, "I will keep it going and not subdivide this land."'
Murdoch said he's now decorating the property, in the hill above Bel Air, after Jones passed away.
'I expected him to live a bit longer, but I said he could stay in the house,' he said. 'I've now taken possession of the house. I have hired a modest decorator. I just want it to be rustic.'
Wendi Deng protects Rupert Murdoch from pie attack
Embarrassing: Details of lovestruck Deng's note, in which she praised Blair's 'good body,' his 'really, really good legs' and even his 'butt' were revealed by Vanity Fair in February +7
Embarrassing: Details of lovestruck Deng's note, in which she praised Blair's 'good body,' his 'really, really good legs' and even his 'butt' were revealed by Vanity Fair in February
In addition, Murdoch has snapped up a lavish New York apartment, which is also in the process of being decorated. He paid $57.25 million for the 10,000-square-foot pad in One Madison Park, a slender, 60-story glass tower on E. 23rd St.
He said his chief of staff Natalie Ravitz found the apartment.
In the interview, the billionaire also describes a fall in San Francisco, which saw him suffer a hair fracture across his spine.
'I had a very bad month in January and February,' he said. 'I had a fall in San Francisco. I fell on my head. It was just stupidity in a hotel room. I'd put on some boots to go for a hike around San Francisco to be shown by Natalie, and I went down and hit my head very hard.
'And I got, I guess you'd call it, a hair fracture across my spine. I landed on a carpet, but on my head. I've never had such pain in my life. A friend of mine sent a friend of his, a neurosurgeon, down to see me, who quickly said I didn't have any concussion.
'After that, I just went to my ranch and rested for three weeks.'
Young daughters: Murdoch is seen here in 2011 with his and Deng's daughters Chloe, right, and Grace, left +7
Young daughters: Murdoch is seen here in 2011 with his and Deng's daughters Chloe, right, and Grace, left
Vineyard: Murdoch bought 13-acre vineyard, Moraga, pictured, located above Bel Air, California, for $28.8 million since the divorce +7
Vineyard: Murdoch bought 13-acre vineyard, Moraga, pictured, located above Bel Air, California, for $28.8 million since the divorce
Rich: He said his two daughters will each have their own rooms in the triplex downtown Manhattan apartment, which spans the 58th, 59th and 60th floor of the opulent One Madison Park building, pictured +7
Rich: He said his two daughters will each have their own rooms in the triplex downtown Manhattan apartment, which spans the 58th, 59th and 60th floor of the opulent One Madison Park building, pictured
He said his two daughters will each have their own rooms in the triplex downtown Manhattan apartment, which spans the 58th, 59th and 60th floor of the opulent building.
'I assume that my two daughters will each have their own rooms for the first time in their lives. And they're decorating them, they think,' he said.
He claims the apartment 'will be fairly modest, to start with.'
'I'm not going to put in great antiques or have major things that take a long time to do,' he told Fortune.
'I'll buy nice, not-too-modern furniture. But it's a modern place. It's very high.'
Murdoch also discusses his elder daughter Elisabeth, in the interview, whom he had a public disagreement with over the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal.
Elisabeth, who chairs London-based TV production company Shine Limited, criticized the company's handling of the scandal in a speech in Scotland known as the MacTaggart Lecture.
Murdoch told Fortune Liz won praise from everyone on the talk 'except me' and that he thought she was hurt that he didn't like it.
But he hopes the pair have since put their troubles behind them.
'I had a long an warm and loving hour with her on the phone yesterday,' he said, adding that they talk mostly about her children not the business.
The interview features is in the April 28, 2014 issue of Fortune.
The media mogul revealed he only learned of his ex-wife's diary entries after he filed for divorce
In the entries, Deng described having 'warm feelings' and a 'crush' for Blair
Blair allegedly spent weekends at the Murdoch ranch while the 83-year-old was overseas
In an interview with Fortune magazine, the News Corporation boss explained that he first heard of the alleged encounters while in Australia
He said he immediately traveled back to the ranch to quiz the staff - and then he scrambled to find a lawyer
Deng's love notes were featured in the March issue of Vanity Fair
Billionaire tells how he has 'turned a new leaf' since the divorce and bought a 13-acre vineyard in California and a $57.25 million lavish New York pad
By HELEN POW
PUBLISHED: 14:46 GMT, 10 April 2014 | UPDATED: 07:04 GMT, 11 April 2014
209 shares 245View
comments
Rupert Murdoch has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Wendi Deng, and the moment he learned she had spent secret weekends with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his family's California ranch.
The Australian media mogul also revealed he was 'shocked' when he first read his ex-wife's diary entries in which she described having 'warm feelings' comparable to a 'crush' on Blair, who allegedly stayed at the ranch with Deng in October 2012 and April 2013 while the 83-year-old was overseas.
In an interview with Fortune magazine, the News Corporation boss explained that he first heard of the encounters while in Australia and immediately traveled back to the ranch to quiz the staff - and then he scrambled to find a lawyer.
Scroll down for video
Shocked: Rupert Murdoch, left, has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Wendi Deng, right, and the moment he learned she had spent secret weekends with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his ranch +7
Shocked: Rupert Murdoch, left, has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Wendi Deng, right, and the moment he learned she had spent secret weekends with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his ranch
'Well, you know, everybody was talking about these things and never telling me anything... But then I was told two pretty circumstantial things about the ranch [where Deng had been staying],' he said.
'I was in Australia. When I got back, I naturally asked the staff, and it opened up. That's the story. And then, you know, a week later I filed. As soon as I could find a lawyer.'
The couple divorced last November after 14 years of marriage.
Murdoch said he wasn't given Deng's diary entries until after he filed for divorce. He said he was 'shocked' by the love notes, but didn't read them.
Crush: Deng reportedly wrote of having 'warm feelings' for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, pictured +7
Crush: Deng reportedly wrote of having 'warm feelings' for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, pictured
He said the revelation made him feel he'd made the right decision, but he regretted the fact the diary entries made worldwide headlines.
'I regret the whole Vanity Fair thing. I wish we just could have got divorced quietly,' he told Fortune.
Details of lovestruck Deng's note, in which she praised Blair's 'good body,' his 'really, really good legs' and even his 'butt' were revealed by Vanity Fair in February.
It said staff at Murdoch's home were uneasy when Blair arrived and tried to find her.
The magazine claimed they told him Deng had gone to the master bedroom, but 'by the time they could tell her, Blair was looking for her, they found Blair walking into the master bedroom and closing the door behind him.'
On another occasion 'they were feeding each other during dinner, which made the staff uncomfortable.'
Blair, who is godfather to one of Murdoch and Deng's daughters, has always denied he had an affair with Deng and there is no evidence to suggest that is the case.
The Middle East envoy, 60, is married to barrister Cherie Blair.
As well as the 'multiple' overnight stays at the expansive Carmel ranch, the pair are also believed to have met on a super-yacht owned by music industry billionaire David Geffen.
It was earlier reported that Murdoch learned of his ex-wife and Blair's encounters after she inadvertently sent an email to the wrong person, including details of his trip to the ranch. That's when Murdoch went to Carmel and asked the household staff if it was true.
Ranch: Murdoch revealed he asked his staff at the Carmel, California, ranch, pictured, about the rumors and then scrambled to find a lawyer +7
Ranch: Murdoch revealed he asked his staff at the Carmel, California, ranch, pictured, about the rumors and then scrambled to find a lawyer
They told him Blair had stayed there with Deng on two weekends in October 2012 and April 2013.
Five months on from the divorce, Murdoch said he's 'turning over a new leaf,' buying a new California ranch and a lavish apartment in New York.
He said he bought 13-acre vineyard, Moraga, for $28.8 million after he saw a story in the Wall Street Journal Mansion section about the owner, Tom Jones who was a former CEO of Northrop, and remembered he'd met him 25 years ago with President Reagan at a social party.
'He was dying because he was 93 and had very bad emphysema,' he told Fortune. 'And he wanted to sell it to someone who said, "I will keep it going and not subdivide this land."'
Murdoch said he's now decorating the property, in the hill above Bel Air, after Jones passed away.
'I expected him to live a bit longer, but I said he could stay in the house,' he said. 'I've now taken possession of the house. I have hired a modest decorator. I just want it to be rustic.'
Wendi Deng protects Rupert Murdoch from pie attack
Embarrassing: Details of lovestruck Deng's note, in which she praised Blair's 'good body,' his 'really, really good legs' and even his 'butt' were revealed by Vanity Fair in February +7
Embarrassing: Details of lovestruck Deng's note, in which she praised Blair's 'good body,' his 'really, really good legs' and even his 'butt' were revealed by Vanity Fair in February
In addition, Murdoch has snapped up a lavish New York apartment, which is also in the process of being decorated. He paid $57.25 million for the 10,000-square-foot pad in One Madison Park, a slender, 60-story glass tower on E. 23rd St.
He said his chief of staff Natalie Ravitz found the apartment.
In the interview, the billionaire also describes a fall in San Francisco, which saw him suffer a hair fracture across his spine.
'I had a very bad month in January and February,' he said. 'I had a fall in San Francisco. I fell on my head. It was just stupidity in a hotel room. I'd put on some boots to go for a hike around San Francisco to be shown by Natalie, and I went down and hit my head very hard.
'And I got, I guess you'd call it, a hair fracture across my spine. I landed on a carpet, but on my head. I've never had such pain in my life. A friend of mine sent a friend of his, a neurosurgeon, down to see me, who quickly said I didn't have any concussion.
'After that, I just went to my ranch and rested for three weeks.'
Young daughters: Murdoch is seen here in 2011 with his and Deng's daughters Chloe, right, and Grace, left +7
Young daughters: Murdoch is seen here in 2011 with his and Deng's daughters Chloe, right, and Grace, left
Vineyard: Murdoch bought 13-acre vineyard, Moraga, pictured, located above Bel Air, California, for $28.8 million since the divorce +7
Vineyard: Murdoch bought 13-acre vineyard, Moraga, pictured, located above Bel Air, California, for $28.8 million since the divorce
Rich: He said his two daughters will each have their own rooms in the triplex downtown Manhattan apartment, which spans the 58th, 59th and 60th floor of the opulent One Madison Park building, pictured +7
Rich: He said his two daughters will each have their own rooms in the triplex downtown Manhattan apartment, which spans the 58th, 59th and 60th floor of the opulent One Madison Park building, pictured
He said his two daughters will each have their own rooms in the triplex downtown Manhattan apartment, which spans the 58th, 59th and 60th floor of the opulent building.
'I assume that my two daughters will each have their own rooms for the first time in their lives. And they're decorating them, they think,' he said.
He claims the apartment 'will be fairly modest, to start with.'
'I'm not going to put in great antiques or have major things that take a long time to do,' he told Fortune.
'I'll buy nice, not-too-modern furniture. But it's a modern place. It's very high.'
Murdoch also discusses his elder daughter Elisabeth, in the interview, whom he had a public disagreement with over the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal.
Elisabeth, who chairs London-based TV production company Shine Limited, criticized the company's handling of the scandal in a speech in Scotland known as the MacTaggart Lecture.
Murdoch told Fortune Liz won praise from everyone on the talk 'except me' and that he thought she was hurt that he didn't like it.
But he hopes the pair have since put their troubles behind them.
'I had a long an warm and loving hour with her on the phone yesterday,' he said, adding that they talk mostly about her children not the business.
The interview features is in the April 28, 2014 issue of Fortune.
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