One of the most successful media executives in America is tying the knot — for the fifth time.
Rupert Murdoch confirmed his latest engagement to Ann Lesley Smith on Monday, in response to inquiry from the New York Post.
“I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love,” the 92-year-old Murdoch said of his engagement.
“But I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”
Murdoch is marrying Smith, a former police chaplain and the widow of country singer and television executive Chester Smith.
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“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 said of the partnership.
“In perspective, it’s not my first rodeo. Getting near 70 means being in the last half. I waited for the right time. Friends are happy for me.”
The couple met at a September event at his vineyard Moraga in Bel Air, California.
“She and her husband also owned a vineyard and had been in the wine business. Last year when there was 200 people at my vineyard, I met her and we talked a bit. Two weeks later I called her.”
Murdoch offered Smith his hand in marriage on Saint Patrick’s Day in New York City, with the couple anticipating a summer wedding.
Rupert Murdoch finds love with Ann Lesley Smith as happy couple plans summer wedding https://t.co/fe89xyfv79
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 20, 2023
Murdoch has divorced previously four times, most recently in August from model Jerry Smith, according to The Guardian.
The Australian-born American media executive is most known as the longtime boss of Fox News.
Murdoch has filled this role in various capacities throughout a lengthy business career, currently serving as chairman of parent company Fox Corporation.
His other positions have included tenures as CEO of News Corporation and chairman of Fox News itself.
While the couple has a sizable age difference, they’re both senior citizens. Smith is 66.
Forbes ranks Murdoch as the 76th wealthiest person in the world, with his total net worth estimated at $17.2 billion.
