He offered Deng an internship at News Corp subsidiary Star TV in Hong Kong, which developed into a full-time junior executive position.

[21][6] In 2011, Deng co-produced her first film with Florence Sloan,[24] Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a movie about two footbound children in Qing dynasty China,[25][26] directed by Wayne Wang.

[28] She also produced the Netflix documentary Sky Ladder[29] directed by Academy Award-winning Kevin MacDonald, showcasing the art of Cai Guo-Qiang.

[35][12] Jake later said that they stayed together for only four to five months when he learned that Deng was spending time with David Wolf, a man closer to her age.

[34] In 1997, she met media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who is 37 years her senior, while working as an executive at the Murdoch-owned Star TV in Hong Kong.

[6] They married in 1999[36] on board his yacht Morning Glory,[37] less than three weeks after the finalization of his divorce from his second wife, Anna Murdoch (née Torv).

[35][42] On July 19, 2011, Deng counterattacked Jonathan May-Bowles (comedian Jonnie Marbles) after he threw a pie at her husband Rupert Murdoch while he was giving testimony before a British parliamentary committee considering the News International phone hacking scandal.

[44] In February 2014, The Daily Telegraph and Vanity Fair alleged that Deng might have had an affair with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

[46] In early 2018, The Wall Street Journal published a story suggesting that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump,[47] longtime friends of Deng, were warned by US intelligence agencies that she may be using her relationship with them to further the goals of the Chinese government.

[48] Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, posited that the article was an attempt by Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Wall Street Journal, to spread the idea that "Wendi is a Chinese spy" in the aftermath of their acrimonious divorce.