News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from his wife Wendi (44), the company confirmedtoday.
The reasons for the filing were not immediately clear.
Mr Murdoch (82) married the former Wendi Deng in 1999.
Ms Deng famously defended her husband from a man who attacked him with a pie made of shaving foam while he was giving evidence to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee about the phone-hacking scandal in 2011.
Ms Deng leapt to her feet and slapped the assailant, Jonathan May-Bowles, across the head.
The couple, who have two daughters, were married weeks after Mr Murdoch’s divorce from his previous wife, Anna.
This would be the publishing tycoon’s third divorce. His first marriage, to Patricia Booker, ended in 1965. Two years later, he married a reporter at one of his newspapers, Anna Torv, and had three children, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James, all of whom have figured prominently at one point in the workings of his company.
Mr Murdoch’s net worth is $12.1 billion, making him the world’s 79th richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.