She had divorced the former EastEnders actor Ross Kemp, with whom she had a fiery relationship, in 2002.īrooks’s ambition to rise further is unlikely to be thwarted by the prospect of executives including Murdoch being called to testify – more than $1.5bn (£1.2bn) has been spent keeping cases from going to trial to date. The couple had a daughter via a surrogate mother in 2012. Photograph: David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Pragnellĭuring her time outside the Murdoch empire she received more than £16m in compensation before returning as boss in 2015, a year after being cleared of any wrongdoing.īrooks is part of the “Chipping Norton set”, which includes former UK prime minister David Cameron and the former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who introduced her to the racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, whom she married in 2009 while editor of the Sun. Rebekah Brooks, pictured with her husband Charlie, is one of the most powerful women in media. She was forced to resign in 2011 after the Milly Dowler phone-hacking scandal that resulted in the closure of the News of the World.

The 54-year-old Brooks started her career in the family publishing empire as a 20-year-old secretary at the News of the World, where she would work under Piers Morgan.įrom humble beginnings – her father was an odd-job man and she attended a comprehensive school near Warrington, between Liverpool and Manchester – Brooks would rise to become editor of the News of the World in the early noughties and the first female editor of the Sun from 2003 to 2009.īrooks is one of the most powerful women in media, having served two stints as chief executive of Murdoch’s British media empire. “She has always been a significant adviser, very much a right-hand person, but every time there is a gap between wives she spends more time with Murdoch.”Įarlier this month, Rupert called off his engagement to his would-be fifth wife, Ann Lesley Smith, just two weeks after proposing, having finalised his divorce from Jerry Hall less than a year ago. “Rebekah is going to be spending a lot more time in New York,” says one source. Since being found not guilty of phone hacking at a criminal trial almost a decade ago, Brooks, the former Sun editor who runs Murdoch’s UK business including the Times, TalkTV and Virgin Radio, has focused on rehabilitating her corporate image with a future eye on a global role in New York. Lachlan Murdoch reportedly believes his younger brother James leaks plot lines to the HBO drama Succession.

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