Sunday, August 23, 2026

After four divorces, 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch announces engagement with 66-year-old

Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, divorced four times, has found love again in the arms of Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old police chaplain, whom he met in September last year.

• March 24, 2023
Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lesley Smith
Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lesley Smith [Credit: The Telegraph]

Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, divorced four times, has found love again in the arms of Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old police chaplain, whom he met in September last year.

Mr MuRdoch owns a network of successful media companies like the Wall Street Journal, Fox broadcast network, the New York Post, and Fox News Channel.

The news of Mr Murdoch’s engagement broke on his tabloid, The Post, where he expressed joy and confidence that he had found his “last” marital bus stop in Ms Smith.

“I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy,” the excited groom-to-be told The Post.

Being formerly married to the late Chester Smith, a radio executive, Ms Smith was not a stranger to the media industry, an experience she believes would make her prospective union with Mr Murdoch successful.

“For us both, it’s a gift from God. We met last September,” the bride-to-be told her fiance’s outlet. 

“I’m a widow 14 years. 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,” she disclosed.

Mr Murdoch ended his fourth marriage to model Jerry Halls in August 2022, with the latter receiving millions of pounds and a mansion as a divorce settlement.

His new engagement comes in the middle of a $1.6 billion lawsuit legal crisis that his company, Fox Corporation, was battling.

Dominion Voting Systems has charged Fox Corporation with linking their organisation to claims of electoral fraud related to ex-President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful reelection bid.

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