Six months after his divorce from Jerry Hall (fourth), the Aussie tycoon was photographed holding hands with the former model, widow of country star Chester Smith, 25 years his junior
In the personal ads of one of the many newspapers he published on three continents during his lifetime, he would look something like this: Far-right politician, traveler, bachelor, 91 years sport, personal fortune $17.6 billion, seeking vacation partners in Barbados and possible marriage.
It is unknown how Rupert Murdoch met his new girlfriend, but surely Murdoch is no longer single six months after his divorce from Jerry Hall (the fourth). The lucky guy? Ann-Leslie Smith, 66, widow of American country star Chester Smith (1930-2008), photographed holding hands with the owner of News Corp in Barbados near the mansion of British billionaire Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB, multinational construction company (Chester Smith was also a publisher, like Murdoch, albeit apparently on a very small scale: he founded various local television stations in California and Oregon).
Murdoch has been mentoring her since November: Mrs. Anne-Leslie, a woman of deep Christian faith, worked as a volunteer chaplain for the Marin County, California, Police Department, and one of the few interviews she has published is this one a while ago that stands out: “America’s Christian Broadcasting Network: When I first started walking with God, the things of the world seemed meaningless to me. For me it is no longer the things that count, but the other people. When you let the Lord take control of your life, you can be successful. You can rise above the ruins and let the balm of his anointing fall upon you.
Wedding in sight? Very premature, although, chronologically speaking, Murdoch’s latest surprised the world. The tycoon has been divorced four times. He was married to former flight attendant Patricia Booker from 1956 to 1967 and to journalist Anna Torv (now known as Anna Murdoch Mann) from 1967 to 1998. He then married Chinese woman Wendy Deng, 38 years his junior, on his yacht Morning Glory in 1999 just two months after divorcing Torv, only to divorce again in 2013. Murdoch last year finally divorced Jerry Hall, now 66, Mick Jagger’s longtime ex-partner who was never legally married: Murdoch and Hall married two months after the surprise announcement of their engagement in The Times in 2016 (right while they were married with Hall he struck one of the biggest deals of his very long life, $71.3 billion to sell most of 21st Century Fox to Disney in 2019).
News Corp’s successor, net of the popular TV series Succession inspired by the Australian family’s intrigues, has fairly clear profiles: the Murdoch family trust controls about 40% of the voting rights of both companies, News Corp publishes the Times , Sun , Wall Street Journal, The Australian and Fox TV, which Murdoch split in 2013 and now plans to reunite in a bold move that will leave Wall Street perplexed – and remains chairman of Fox and executive chairman of News Corp while his son Lachlan almost certainly is his heir at the top, CEO of Fox and co-executive chairman of News Corp (the two daughters with Deng have received liquidation, but in exchange they cannot hold positions in the company).
January 17, 2023 (change January 17, 2023 | 16:21)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED