Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks is in New York 'exploring her professional future' for high level job at Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation
- Rupert Murdoch understood to be keen to offer his former editor a new job
- Mrs Brooks, 46, was acquitted of all hacking charges after seven-month trial
- News Corp confirms she toured its New York headquarters with assistant
- 'She and her family are here for a visit, reconnecting with friends and meeting with businesses as she explores and considers professional future'
Fresh start? Rebekah Brooks may be being offered a new job by her old boss Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch may be about to offer Rebekah Brooks a new job at the top of his media empire, it emerged today.
Mrs Brooks, 46, has visited the News Corporation headquarters in New York this week 'as she explores and considers her professional future', a company spokesman has confirmed.
In June the former News International chief executive was acquitted of all hacking charges and said she had been 'vindicated' after her seven-month trial at the Old Bailey.
Mr Murdoch and Mrs Brooks have enjoyed a close relationship and the 83-year-old billionaire is understood to be keen to offer her a new start in the United States.
The former News of the World editor is known to have received payouts totalling £16million from his business following her resignation in 2011, including the legal fees for her defence.
News Corp staff said last night she was seen being shown around its Sixth Avenue headquarters with an assistant - and a new job was likely discussed.
A spokesman for News Corp said: 'She and her family are here in the United States for a visit, reconnecting with friends and meeting with businesses as she explores and considers her professional future.'
Mrs Brooks her husband Charlie, 51, who was also cleared of a conspiracy charge at her trial, and their daughter Scarlett, two, would move to New York from Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.
A clue to her destination could be linked to former Daily Telegraph editor Will Lewis, a friend of Brooks, who is now in charge of Mr Murdoch's Dow Jones in New York.
Mr Murdoch is said to consider Mrs Brooks as a fourth child and said famously she was his 'top priority' when the hacking scandal happened and he flew to London.
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Spotted: News Corp have confirmed Mrs Brooks was at its New York headquarters this week 'as she explores and considers her professional future', the company confirmed
Statement: Mrs Brooks last spoke in June after her acquittal but she would not answer questions about her future
When they worked together they went for swims together, sailed together and spoke on the phone every day.
Colleagues described how at almost every meeting he attended in London he would be by her side.
Even after she resigned after the News of the World was shut down, Mr Murdoch supported her publicly and they dined together to the fury of staff who lost their jobs.
Mrs Brooks last spoke publicly in June, after the end of her trial, and refused to answer any questions about her plans for the future.
'I am innocent of the crimes that I was charged with and I feel vindicated by the unanimous verdicts,' she said.
Asked if she could have done more to prevent phone hacking at the News of the World, Mrs Brooks told journalists: 'It's been a time of reflection for me. I've learned some valuable lessons and will hopefully become the wiser for it'.
Andy Coulson, Mrs Brooks' successor as editor of the News of the World, was the only defendant convicted of phone hacking by the jury.
David Cameron's former spin doctor is serving an 18-month jail sentence for his part in the hacking scandal.
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