Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox, and his wife of 14 years, Wendi Deng Murdoch, are close to settling their divorce, according to a person familiar with the terms of the agreement.
They are scheduled to appear on Wednesday at New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan to finalize what is considered to be an amicable agreement, the person said.
The couple have prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
As part of the deal, Deng is expected to keep the couple’s apartment they once shared with their two young children Grace and Chloe on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, as well as their home in Beijing.
William Zabel, an attorney for Deng, and Ira Garr, a lawyer for Murdoch, did not immediately return calls for comment.
Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng in June, seeking to end a marriage that had been irretrievably broken, according to his spokesman.
He made the move weeks before he was set to split his media and entertainment empire into two separate companies.
The divorce is not expected to affect the two companies – 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.
Murdoch also has four grown children, Prudence from his first marriage, and Lachlan, James and Elisabeth from his second.
These four grown children all have voting rights in the trust that holds about 40 percent of the voting stock in News Corp and Fox.
The New York Times first reported news that Murdoch and Deng are close to finalizing the divorce.
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– Reuters
