(CNN) -- It's another slap heard around the world, albeit a legal one this time. Two years after Wendi Deng made headlines for forcefully defending her husband -- News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch -- from a pie-throwing intruder in Britain's Parliament, she and their relationship are in the news again. Murdoch is filing for divorce from Deng, his third wife, a spokesman for the media mogul confirmed Thursday. It's not known what precipitated the split to end the marriage that began in 1999. Speculation, though, has swirled for months about the state of the couple's relationship. The Chinese-born, Yale-educated Deng was very accomplished in her own right pre-Murdoch, even though critics jabbed her as a "gold digger" through her marriage to the media mogul.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Mudoch files for divorce from his third wife, Wendi Deng . Chinese-born, Yale-educated Deng married Murdoch in 1999; the pair have two daughters . Deng made headlines when she defended Murdoch from man armed with shaving-foam pie . Questions remain about how Murdoch's estimated $11 billion fortune will be divided .