Newsmaker

Every Friday, we choose an alum who has been making headlines—for better or for worse.
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7/22/11: Wendi Deng Murdoch ’97MBA

Wendi Deng Murdoch ’97MBA’s top-ten list of What I Learned at the Yale School of Management probably does not include pie-blocking. Or slapping. But those are the skills that put Murdoch in the global spotlight this week as she tried to defend her husband, Rupert, from a shaving-cream-pie-wielding protester in London.

In video clips of the July 19 attack—during a Parliamentary hearing into the phone-hacking scandal that has shuttered one of Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids, prompted numerous arrests, and threatens to topple the British government—Wendi Murdoch’s pink jacket and swift right arm stood out amidst the sea of confused men in dark suits.

The Guardian called it a “Charlie’s Angel moment.” Katie Couric—seemingly reversing the couple’s 38-year age difference—dubbed her a “tiger mother.” And according to theNew York Times, Wendi was “the Murdoch who may have emerged in the best light” from the hearing.

On a more SOM-relevant note, the Times also noted that Wendi “acts as counselor to her husband and by all accounts has asserted influence in his global media empire. She has proved to be a particularly important asset as he has sought to develop his business interests in China,” where she was born.

Producer of the new movie Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (from Fox Searchlight, part of the Murdoch media empire), Wendi also sits on the School of Management’s Board of Advisors.

Maybe she’ll dispense advice on hand-to-pie combat.

Filed under controversy, movies, international
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