Influential media mogul Rupert Murdoch has announced his latest marriage engagement to Ann Lesley Smith at the age of 92. The founder chairman of News Corp is now engaged to the 66-year-old who was first seen with him in late 2022. The veteran business magnate proposed to her in New York City on St. Patrick’s Day, since he is one-fourth Irish. The couple has set a date for their wedding sometime around late summer.
Speaking to New York Post, one of his own news outlets, Rupert Murdoch expressed that he was nervous about the proposal. Given his age, he knows this is going to be his last marriage and that he is happy. As a part of his marriage proposal, the Australian-born media baron gifted an Asscher-cut diamond solitaire to his wife-to-be.
Who is Rupert Murdoch’s fiance Ann Lesley Smith and how did they meet?
Ann Lesley Smith is a former San Francisco police chaplain. In September 2022, she met Rupert Murdoch at his vineyard in Bel Air, California. Her late husband Chester Smith was a country singer as well as a radio and TV executive.
Despite being a widow for 14 years, Ann Lesley Smith stated that she shared the same beliefs as Rupert Murdoch as her late husband was a media businessman too. The couple look forward to spending the second half of their lives together.
Rupert Murdoch is getting married again. Apparently, he wants them to spend the 'second half of their lives together.'
Second half? He's 95. That's the optimism of the very rich for sure 🙂— Kate Emerson 🇵🇸 🔻 (@KateEmerson88) March 20, 2023
The engagement announcement has drawn in mixed reactions on Twitter mainly due to Rupert Murdoch’s age. Some have even accused Ann Lesley Smith of marrying him “at the right time” so she can inherit part of his wealth after his death.
I think the latest soon-to-be Mrs Rupert Murdoch has probably timed it just right, like the person who hovers near a chair just before the music stops.
— Jane Hill (@janehill64) March 20, 2023
A timeline of Rupert Murdoch’s former marriages
Murdoch has been married four times and has six children. In 1956, he married Patricia Booker, a former shop assistant, but the couple divorced in 1967. He then married Anna Torv, a Scottish journalist, in 1967, and they had three children together. The couple divorced in 1999 after 32 years of marriage.
In 1999, he married Wendi Deng, a Chinese-born businesswoman who was 37 years his junior. The couple has two children together but divorced in 2013. Their divorce was highly publicized, with allegations of Deng having an affair with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, which both Deng and Blair denied.
Most recently in 2022, Rupert Murdoch ended a six-year marriage with American model and actress Jerry Hall. She was also the long-term partner of Rolling Stones front-man Mick Jagger, with whom she has four children.
Rupert Murdoch’s life and career
Rupert Murdoch is considered to be the father of modern news media. Some of the major media properties owned by his News Corp include The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Fox News, Sky News, The Times, and The Sun.
He has also been accused of using his media outlets to promote his political agenda and influence elections. In 2011, his media company was embroiled in a phone hacking scandal in the UK.
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