Rupert Murdoch Announces Fifth Marriage, Aged 92

Media giant Rupert Murdoch has announced his engagement to partner Ann Lesley Smith. At the age of 92, this will be Murdoch’s fifth marriage.

Murdoch met Smith last September at an event held at his vineyard in California. The latter is a 66-year-old former police chaplain from San Francisco.

Murdoch made billions in the media industry and owns hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets across the world.

Rupert Murdoch to remarry

The Australian-born billionaire met his fiance less than a year after finalizing a divorce from his former partner, Jerry Hall. The split from Hall was Murdoch’s fourth divorce.

“I was very nervous,” Murdoch told the New York Post, one of his own newspapers. “I dreaded falling in love, but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”

Smith met the media mogul at a 200-person event hosted at his vineyard in Bel Air, California. Murdoch called her just two weeks after they met at the exclusive event.

Smith’s late husband was the country music singer and TV executive Chester Smith.

“I’m a widow 14 years,” Smith told the New York Post. “Like Rupert, my husband was a businessman. Worked for local papers, developed radio and TV stations, and helped promote Univision. So I speak Rupert’s language. We share the same beliefs.”

Murdoch said that he proposed to Smith on St Patrick’s Day, joking that he is “one-fourth Irish.” He presented his bride-to-be with an Asscher-cut diamond solitaire that he had personally selected.

The wedding is scheduled to take place this summer. The couple will divide their time between the United Kingdom, California, New York, and Montana.

Media empire

Murdoch is best known for owning one of the world’s largest and most influential media empires under the umbrella of his company News Corp.

According to Forbes, Murdoch is worth $17.1 billion, making him the 95th richest person in the world.

Murdoch, who is originally from Australia, inherited the newspaper The News after his father, a former war correspondent, passed away. In the 1950s and 60s, he acquired several other newspapers in Australia and New Zealand before expanding further afield to the United Kingdom and the United States.

By the year 2000, Murdoch owned over 800 companies in more than 50 countries. His media empire, under News Corp, includes notable media companies like Fox News, The Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

However, the multi-billionaire has been no stranger to controversy. In July 2011, Murdoch’s companies were accused of illegally hacking the phones of celebrities.

He has also been accused on multiple occasions of using his leverage over international media corporations to shape public opinion in a way that suits his business and political interests.