Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 70, and new wife Wendi Deng are expecting a first addition to their growing empire - a baby.
"All I can tell you is that it's true," a company spokeswoman told Reuters.
She declined to say when the baby was due or give other details. The child will be the fifth for Murdoch and the first for Deng, 33, who married the executive chairman of media giant News Corp aboard a yacht in 1999.
"We're very happy for Rupert and Wendi," said Geoff Handbury, who is married to Murdoch's sister Helen, according to The Age newspaper.
"It's going to be very much loved by a big family," he said. Murdoch, who defeated prostate cancer last year, once said his marriage to Deng, aboard the yacht "Morning Glory" on the Hudson river, had re-energised him.
Deng met Murdoch when she worked at Star TV, the Asian satellite television arm of the AU$70 billion conglomerate. The arrival of a new heir to the vast empire controlled by Murdoch could fuel fresh scrutiny over which of his children will eventually control his operations, the fifth biggest media company in the world.
However, Murdoch's mother Dame Elisabeth Murdoch says, in the most diplomatic possible way, that none of this is anyone's business.
"It's family news, and it's for you to find out," she told Reuters from her home in rural Victoria.
"But thank you for calling."
