Rupert Murdoch has reportedly called off his engagement with his wedding only months away.
The 92-year-old media baron will no longer wed 66-year-old Ann Lesley Smith, Vanity Fair reported on Wednesday (April 5). Although it has not been reported if they have split for good, the magazine has insinuated they have gone their separate ways.
Fox chairman Murdoch confirmed the engagement in an interview with the New York Post, a title he owns, on March 20 — just over two weeks ago.
The pair had met in September and shared interests in business. Smith is said to be a dental hygienist turned conservative radio host.
Vanity Fair said Murdoch had been “increasingly uncomfortable with Smith’s outspoken evangelical views” but the tycoon has not officially commented.
Murdoch said in March: “I was very nervous,” he said. “I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”
The news came through a year after he had divorced his former wife, the model Jerry Hall.
Murdoch has been married four times and has six children. Here is a rundown of his marital history.
Patricia Booker
Murdoch married the former shop assistant and flight attendant from his native Melbourne in 1956 and they had their only child, Prudence, in 1958. The couple divorced in 1967 and Prudence has gone on to hold several roles in News Corporation.
Anna Torv
Shortly after divorcing Booker, Murdoch married Anna Torv in 1967. The Scottish-born journalist had moved to Australia to work for Murdoch’s Sydney newspaper, The Daily Mirror. This was Murdoch’s longest marriage and they had three children: Elizabeth, in 1968, Lachlan, in 1971, and James, in 1972. All three have followed their father and mother into the media. Murdoch and Torv divorced in 1999.
Wendi Deng
Murdoch, then in his late 60s, waited just 17 days after divorcing Torv before marrying Chinese-born Wendi Deng, who was then 30. The pair had two children, Grace, born in 2001, and Chloe, born in 2003 — bringing the total to six. The couple’s union was tested by an ultimately unproven link to Chinese intelligence and a suspected affair with former British prime minister Tony Blair, which was also unproven. They divorced in 2013.
Jerry Hall
Murdoch announced his engagement in The Times, a newspaper he owns, to former model Hall in 2016 and the pair were married in March of that year. Murdoch was nearly 85 at the time and Hall was 59. They filed for divorce in July 2022, citing irreconcilable differences.
