Rupert Murdoch, the media titan, and Jerry Hall, the model and actress, are divorcing, according to two people familiar with the decision. People will only speak anonymously to discuss a personal matter.
Bryce Tom, Mr Murdoch’s spokesman, declined to comment. Ms. Hall’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Mr Murdoch’s divorce, his fourth, is unlikely to change the ownership structure of the companies in which he holds stakes, including the parent companies of Fox News and The Wall Street Journal. The Murdoch shares in the companies founded by Mr. Murdoch are in a strictly managed trust. Mr Murdoch shares the right to vote on this trust with his four eldest children – Lachlan, Elizabeth, James and Prudence – and has arranged it so that it can never be surpassed.
However, the split may echo in his business empire, which maintains strong influence in America and abroad through its right-wing news brands, including Fox News Channel in the United States, The Sun in the UK and Sky News in Australia.
In the early days of the marriage, helpers and people close to the family said he was happy to devote more time to his new wife, leaving room for his children – most importantly, his eventual chosen heir, Lachlan – to establish themselves at the top. of the corporate hierarchy.
Some people close to Mr. Murdoch were surprised to hear about his breakup with Mrs. Hall.
Mr. Murdoch and Mrs. Hall were married in March 2016 in a century-old mansion in central London. Mr Murdoch noted the case by announcing on Twitter that he would stop posting on the platform, calling himself “the happiest and happiest person in the world”.
The October-December pairing – Ms. Hall is 65 and Mr Murdoch is 91 – has made the couple a constant target of rival tabloids, with paparazzi regularly catching the two smiling broadly on a pristine beach, a winter football stadium or a black tie. .
Last year, Ms. Hall attended Mr. Murdoch’s 90th birthday party at Tavern on the Green, a luxury restaurant in Central Park, according to one attendee. Ms. Hall loved Mr. Murdoch very much during the celebrations, which were attended by luminaries from business, sports and politics, the man said.
Mr Murdoch was previously married to Wendy Deng, an entrepreneur and investor, from 1999 to 2014. He divorced his second wife, Anna, a former newspaper reporter, in 1999, after more than three decades. Mr Murdoch’s first wife was Patricia Booker, an Australian model whom he divorced in 1965.
Mrs. Hall was previously married to singer Mick Jagger, but their marriage was annulled in 1999.
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