Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is planning on tying the knot again, he said in a recent interview with the New York Post, where the 92-year-old admitted to being nervous while popping the question.
“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.
Murdoch will marry 66-year-old Ann Lesley Smith, a former San Francisco police chaplain. Smith’s late husband, Chester Smith, was a media executive and country singer.
The couple met during a gathering at Murdoch’s vineyard in Bel Air, California.
“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,” Smith told the New York Post.
She has been married twice.
The proposal is unlikely to affect existing business structures. Murdoch controls the media empire through a Nevada-based family trust which holds an approximate 40 percent stake in voting rights of each company, according to Reuters.
This will be Murdoch’s fifth marriage after divorcing ex-wife Jerry Hall seven months ago. Murdoch was married to the model and actress for 6 years.
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Murdoch is the executive chairman of News Corp., a mass media conglomerate that includes The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, book publisher HarperCollins, and numerous other ventures in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.Born in Australia, where Murdoch inherited a newspaper from his father at age 22, he has now become one of the most prominent and influential media moguls in the world.
Forbes estimates the Murdoch family to be worth $17.1 billion currently.
Murdoch and Smith are expected to spend time between California, Montana, New York, and the UK.
