Rupert Murdoch to marry for 5th time at 92: Life and times of the media baron

Produced by: Basudha Das 
Designed by: Pragati

92-year-old media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is engaged to Ann Lesley Smith (66) and is set to marry for the fifth time. 

Rupert Murdoch engaged
to Ann Lesley Smith

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch met Ann Lesley Smith, a former police chaplain, at an event held at Murdoch's vineyard in California in September 2022.

Rupert Murdoch to
marry Ann Lesley Smith

Rupert Murdoch is the chairman of Fox Corporation, which owns Fox Broadcasting, Fox Sports, Fox Business and Fox News.He is also the head of News Corp. He also owns the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Sun and book publisher Harper Collins. 

Rupert Murdoch’s
media empire

Rupert Murdoch has been married four times and has six children from his first three marriages.

Rupert Murdoch’s
four marriages

Rupert Murdoch’s first wife was Patricia Booker, a flight attendant and department store model from Melbourne. The couple married in 1956 in Australia, when he was 25. They had one daughter Prudence, who is a newspaper executive. They divorced in 1967.

Rupert Murdoch’s first
wife Patricia Booker

In 1968, Rupert Murdoch married Glasgow-born journalist Anna Torv. They were married for 32 years, and have three children: Elisabeth, Lachlan and James. Murdoch divorced Torv in 1999.

Rupert Murdoch and
Anna Torv

Murdoch married Chinese-born businesswoman Wendi Deng in 1999. Deng was more than 30 years his junior and worked as an intern at a TV station owned by News Corp. They were married for 14 years and have two kids. They divorced in 2014.

Rupert Murdoch and
Wendi Deng

Rupert Murdoch tied the knot with Jerry Hall at St Bride’s church in London in 2016. Murdoch divorced Hall, a former top model, in August 2022. Hall previously dated the famous Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger with whom she has four kids.

Rupert Murdoch and
Jerry Hall

Rupert Murdoch is facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox by Dominion Voting. The tech company has alleged that Fox News anchors made knowingly false claims about Dominion’s influence on the 2020 election, implying that it rigged the race to favour Joe Biden.

Rupert Murdoch and
defamation lawsuit