Phone Hacking: Wendi Deng - from Communist obscurity to top of capitalist heap PeZ=ONY5
Rebekah Brooks, who began life as a secretary, may have thought she had done well working her way into the affections of Rupert Murdoch. B{<6&bQ
But her achievements are as nothing compared to his third wife Wendi Deng. {fs(+
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She has catapulted herself from the anonymity and austerity of communist China to the family - and now the family trust - of one of the world's most powerful and wealthy men. QBg'VV
Along the way she appears to have exhibited the kind of drive and ruthlessness that even her husband must be proud of. Rlu;l
Born Deng Wen Di, she grew up in the obscure eastern Chinese city of Xuzhou, the daughter of an engineer who eventually rose to be the director of a machinery factory. cA,xf@itp
At school, she was a "good student" and "champion volley ball player" who enrolled at Guangzhou medical college at the age of 16. 0'",4=c#V
But she always dreamt of a life in the USA. E O^0sF<
In 1987 she gained her "ticket out of China" when she met an American couple from Los Angeles, Jake and Joyce Cherry. lU3wIB
Mrs Cherry, whose husband was building a factory in China, agreed to teach Ms Deng English. *{Vyt5
When Mrs Cherry went back to the United States her husband stayed in China and soon after, he told her that Miss Deng wanted to go to America to study there. n&lLC