Dec 8, 2020

While Murdoch prepares for a new chapter with Trump as ex-president, Wendi Deng has a few links of her own to work on. Share Just 42 sleeps until Donald Trump becomes an ex-president, and you know what that means – Wendi Deng Murdoch will be launching like a heat-seeking missile to rekindle her friendship with Ivanka. This will give her a front-row seat for the titanic struggle looming between Wendi’s ex, Rupert Murdoch, and Ivanka’s father, for the future of US media, democracy and the News Corp share price (not in that order). Rupert Murdoch is used to having Wendi Deng in the background, as she was before the famous pie-throwing incident before a UK parliamentary committee. Reuters TV There’s been a certain outward awkwardness between the two BFFs during the presidency. Biographer Michael Wolff tweeted that an unhappy Rupert went through a stage after their 2013 divorce of telling “anyone who would listen” that she was a Chinese spy. As you do. Rupert’s The Wall Street Journal reported in 2018 that US counterintelligence officials had warned Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, that Deng could be using their friendship “to further the interests of the Chinese government”. The warning was in early 2017, which would make it around the time of Trump's inauguration, when Wendi was photographed in close attendance to Ivanka as one of her guests at the celebrations. Advertisement How much importance Kushner gave the warning is questionable, because the only reason he himself got a security clearance in February 2017, The New York Times reported, was because his father-in-law ordered the unhappy security vetters to give him one. In any case, in April 2017 Wendi was praising the courage of her “dear friend” in a tribute essay published when Time magazine included Ivanka in its list of 100 powerful people. The year before, Ivanka wrote on Instagram, “WendiMurdoch is one of those friends that inspires you to work hard, be better and laugh louder. She is a remarkable woman ...” A nine-figure fortune doesn't hurt on the inspiring front either. There’s less inspiration at News Corp, which is floundering to find its way in what the Murdochs must be devoutly hoping will be the post-Trump era, with Fox News re-established as the Republicans’ sole kingmaker. It’s tricky. Joe Biden won the popular vote for the presidency by 7.06 million. The combined vote in the California and New York states favoured Biden by 7.1 million. Take out those two states and the country voted for Trump by a 35,000 majority. That makes News Corp media’s attempt to sidle away from him, or at least establish some sort of normal relationship, an excruciatingly delicate procedure. Trump will not go gentle into that ex-presidential good night. He’s currently fixated on One America Network and Newsmax , the tiny right-wing networks that treat his claims to have won the election with the reverence he feels they deserve. Fox News, not so much. Advertisement But Trump and Fox News, which produces an estimated 70 per cent of News Corp’s earnings, will find each other too big to ignore. These are just the early steps to redefining their bromance . But as Trump and Murdoch take each other’s measure, there’s a wild card looming. In December 2016, Ivanka stepped down from the five-person board that oversees the trust fund that held Fox and News Corp shares for Wendi's daughters, Grace and Chloe. If and when Ivanka returns to the trust board –Grace and Chloe are so fond of her, as Wendi writes – she’ll find a larger pot. The trust now oversees Grace and Chloe’s entitlement to nearly $US6 billion ($8 billion) of Disney, Fox and News Corp stock held in the Murdoch family trust. Their share is $US80 million a year in dividend income when COVID-19 isn’t ravaging the Disney cash flow. Grace and Chloe don’t come of age until they turn 30, and they will have no voting power over the Murdoch trust. Nevertheless, any major changes to the trust structure will have to go past the children’s trustees. Past Ivanka and Wendi. She’s an inspiration. Neil Chenoweth is an investigative reporter for The Australian Financial Review. He is based in Sydney and has won multiple Walkley Awards. Connect with Neil on Twitter . Email Neil at nchenoweth@afr.com.au Save