Rupert Murdoch has announced his engagement to Ann Lesley Smith via an interview in the New York Post.
The media mogul, 92, said he proposed on March 17 to Smith, a former San Francisco police chaplain, who is 66 years of age. The news of another wedding for Murdoch follows his earlier marriage to model Jerry Hall (who previously had a long relationship with rocker Mick Jagger) ending in divorce in August of 2022.
“I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy,” Murdoch said of popping the question to Smith in the newspaper interview. Their wedding is expected to take place this summer.
Smith was previously married to Chester Smith, the country singer, radio and TV executive, who died in 2008. Murdoch split from his third wife, Wendi Deng, 46, in 2013. Murdoch and Deng had two children together, Grace and Chloe.
Murdoch also divorced his second wife, Anna, in 1999, after 32 years of marriage. Before that, he had an 11-year marriage to his first wife, Patricia.
The Murdoch family includes eldest son Lachlan, who serves as executive chair and CEO of Fox Corp. Rupert Murdoch is chairman.
News of another wedding for Murdoch follows the plug being pulled on a planned merger between Fox Corp. and News Corp. to once again bring together the media mogul’s empire.
