The 4 Marriages of a Media Tycoon
New York, one of the busiest cities in the world. The flashing neon is like a never-ending river. Here, sleepless nights.
Today’s New York is different from usual, with lively dark green everywhere. On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone spontaneously dressed in green and walked to the streets to celebrate. For 66-year-old Ann-Leslie Smith, this day is even more special.
World media tycoon Rupert Murdoch proposed to Ann Leslie with an 11-carat diamond ring worth £2 million. Already 92 years old, he is no longer young, but he still has the thrill of first love for Ann-Leslie.
He looked into Ann-Leslie’s eyes sincerely, excited and full of expectation. When Ann-Leslie gave an affirmative answer, he vowed: “I know this will be the last marriage in my life, and of course it’s best like this.” They hugged tightly and looked forward to the summer
wedding ‘s arrival But just two weeks later, calling each other a “gift from God”, they called off their engagement after a night of long talks.
Once the news was released, it caused an uproar in the world, and people were surprised that this love ended too quickly. But in fact, the whole process of the two’s acquaintance and love is like a menacing tornado, and they are also caught off guard.
The Different Ann-Leslie and the Unwilling to Be Lonely Rich
In Los Angeles in September 2022, the air is clean and cool, dense grapes are falling heavily, and there is a ripe and seductive smell everywhere. In his own vineyard, Murdoch held a reception.
At this point, he had only been divorced from his fourth wife, Hall, for a month. Fortunately, Hall is far from the shrewdness and sophistication of his third wife, Wendi Deng. When she was still kept in the dark, he ended the marriage with an email.
Unexpectedly, Hall has gone crazy so far, and even hired a former Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officer for the divorce to provide Murdoch with divorce papers at the Royal Air Force Base Brize Norton.
He sighed, and absently shook the wine glass in his hand, suddenly a calm and firm face was reflected in the wine. Murdoch was shocked, and Ann-Leslie came to his world with love.
Unlike Yingying Yanyan, who had made friends with her before, Ann-Leslie Smith was a wealthy woman. She was not only a radio host in Marin County, California, but also had endless conversations with Murdoch. Two ex-husbands also left her substantial property.
At the reception, the two chatted happily, and Murdoch accepted all of Ann-Leslie’s intentional or unintentional gestures of goodwill, which also strengthened Murdoch’s determination to pursue Ann-Leslie.
Soon, photos of the two on vacation in Barbados were exposed by the media, and Murdoch’s rich love life once again became the talk of the world after dinner.
Murdoch is a business genius, but also a lover. Compared with his family history, his love history is even more staggering.
Murdoch married his first wife Pat in 1956. At that time, Murdoch had just taken over the family’s media industry from his father, and was devoting himself to building a media empire. Therefore, Murdoch during this period did not have much time to vent restlessness and unwilling loneliness.
The traffic code mastered by Murdoch quickly made a splash in the local newspaper industry. The simple and rude operation method has been regarded as the bible by the media so far: the boring and boring political news in the newspaper has been greatly deleted, and instead a variety of celebrity gossip and strange events have been reported in large pages; A short but catchy headline…
In this way, Murdoch not only revived the several newspapers left behind by his father, but also opened up a new media territory. The context of a media kingdom has become clear.
Murdoch married 19-year-old journalist Anna in 1967. Anna is ambitious and has an extremely keen business acumen. She is not only Murdoch’s life partner, but also his business partner. The two worked together to make plans for the empire. In 2000, Murdoch’s media group owned more than 800 companies in more than 50 countries around the world, with a market value of more than 5 trillion US dollars.
As the empire expands, their love keeps fading.
At first, Murdoch and Anna had a good relationship. Anna gave birth to 3 children, and these children played a pivotal role in Murdoch’s business empire. But in the 1990s, when Murdoch reached the age of retirement, Anna hoped that he could retreat to the second line, and the two sides stayed together and enjoyed the family happiness.
Murdoch rejected Anna’s request and was attracted by Deng Wendi, an employee of Hong Kong Star TV, during a trip to China.
flowery oriental woman
This oriental woman is at the age of a flower, and Murdoch is intoxicated by every frown and smile.
The young woman who has faded from immaturity exudes calm wisdom and calmness in every gesture, and at the same time there is no lack of girlish vitality. This charming and complex temperament caught Murdoch’s eyes.
It was difficult for Murdoch not to notice the tall woman during a meeting with Star TV management. During the subsequent trips to Shanghai and Beijing, Wendi Deng acted as Murdoch’s translator. Feelings warmed up quickly, and Murdoch emotionally invited Wendi Deng to take a vacation in the UK.
This vacation allowed Murdoch to relive the sweetness of love after a long absence, and the two were inseparable. Until Wendi Deng seriously told him that he had to return to Hong Kong, Murdoch suddenly realized that his life could no longer be separated from this woman.
Without thinking too much, he dialed the phone number of Wendi Deng’s boss: “You may be thinking, why didn’t Wendi Deng come back to work after her vacation? No need to guess, she is with me, and she will not return to Star TV either. Immediately afterwards, Murdoch
showed his cards to Anna, and 17 days after the marriage relationship ended, he and Wendi Deng entered the palace of marriage.
In the face of Murdoch’s betrayal, Anna was furious. But she is a smart woman who knows how to focus on the big open questions in life.
Murdoch Group has a “Cruden Financial Services Company” responsible for managing inheritance, and the company’s decisions on trust funds are all made through voting. Originally, Murdoch had the absolute right to speak in the vote, but when signing the divorce agreement, Anna asked Murdoch to distribute the voting rights to her 3 children and the eldest daughter Prudence born to the first wife, and the company Can only be inherited by these 4 children.
Faced with such harsh conditions, Wendi Deng did not flinch. This made Murdoch ecstatic for a while.
The surprise Wendi Deng brought to Murdoch is not only at the level of love, she is also an outstanding entrepreneur.
She often accompanies her husband to cocktail parties, becomes a courtesan who travels through Vanity Fair, and deftly weaves the resources of the empire. Wendi Deng also continued to participate in the business operations of Murdoch’s News Corporation, persuaded Murdoch several times to enter the new media field, and persuaded him to invest in China’s Netease, Thunder and Renren.
Murdoch has entered his sixtieth year, and the two sides have the deepest love. Whenever Wendi Deng is ridiculed by the outside world, Murdoch will take the initiative to stand up and praise his wife for making him 30 years younger. He also said that he is willing to work for Wendi Deng for the rest of his life. They even gave birth to twin daughters through technological means.
In all fairness, Wendi Deng deserves such praise: In 2011, Murdoch encountered the darkest moment in his life, and Wendi Deng easily solved the predicament with just a slap in the face.
The British Parliament held a special hearing on the phone-hacking scandal of Murdoch’s News Corporation. The 80-year-old Murdoch and his son sat on their seats to show embarrassment and accepted severe questioning from members of parliament.
Suddenly, a man threw foam shaving lotion at Murdoch. Wendi Deng, who was sitting behind Murdoch, got up quickly and slapped the man on the face. This “attack” failed under Wendi Deng’s strong attack.
The story of Wendi Deng’s “heroic rescue of her husband” has become a good story, and the stock of Murdoch’s media empire also rebounded by 6% because of this slap.
But as her status in the ladies’ circle continued to rise, Wendi Deng’s strength became more and more exposed, even crossing Murdoch’s bottom line.
new love and blood relatives
In 2013, a report left Murdoch shaking with rage while on a business trip.
”Vanity Fair” magazine published an article about Wendi Deng and former British Prime Minister Blair.
This article conclusively claims that the two have had an affair for a long time, and also uses a Wendi Deng’s diary as evidence: “Oh, damn it! How can I miss Tony so much? He is so charming, well-dressed, and has a great figure…”
Seeing this, Murdoch gritted his teeth. The servant’s words confirmed the authenticity of this affair: “We once witnessed Blair walk into Wendi Deng’s bedroom and close the door.” At this time, Murdoch recalled the instructions of his sons and daughters
: “Be careful, this woman is definitely not simple.”
In order for Murdoch to add the names of his two daughters to the trust fund, Wendi Deng kept whispering to her ears, and finally achieved her goal. Wendi Deng also aroused the hostility of Murdoch’s ex-wife and daughter. They kept telling him that the stepmother was smart and capable and might threaten Murdoch’s standing in the company.
Thinking of this, Murdoch decisively ended this unpleasant relationship.
Thanks to Anna’s “foresight”, Wendi Deng did not change the inheritance rules of the Murdoch family trust fund when signing the divorce agreement, and the children’s hanging hearts were finally let go.
What Murdoch didn’t expect was that soon he would have to choose between his new love and his children.
On March 4, 2016, Murdoch and supermodel Hall married in a church in central London. What reassures the children is that Hall is no longer of childbearing age at this time and cannot pose a threat to the media empire.
Therefore, at the wedding, Murdoch’s children all attended, and the eldest son Lachlan also presided over the wedding.
The wedding of the century lasted for several days. Murdoch, who is already an octogenarian , said to the outside world, “I feel like the luckiest and happiest person in the world!” Million pound mansion.
The 90-year-old Murdoch has finally put his business in the hands of his sons with peace of mind this time. He is very glad that he can retreat behind the scenes, threatening that these years are his “best state.” An Wen interrupted mercilessly. In order to prevent his elderly husband from contracting the virus, Hall took it upon himself to block Murdoch from the outside world. It was this move that once again annoyed Murdoch’s children.
Coupled with the fact that earlier last year, Hall discussed with the Murdoch family her financial situation and the property she would receive after Murdoch 100 years, this has already caused dissatisfaction among the Murdoch family. And cutting off Murdoch’s freedom pushed Hall’s marriage to an end.
Regardless of Hall’s starting point, it is undeniable that she successfully provoked the dissatisfaction of Murdoch’s children, and they began to secretly complain and report to Murdoch. So much so that at a celebrity-gathered party, Murdoch was no longer accompanied by Hall.
In June last year, Hall, who was still waiting for Murdoch to come home in London, received a divorce email. Looking at the empty room, Hall felt as if he had been hit by a bolt from the blue.
On the multiple-choice question of children and wives, Murdoch once again chose blood relatives. Hall is just the icing on the cake in life. When this flower is no longer peaceful, Murdoch chooses to eradicate it completely.
In the face of every dispute between wives and children, Murdoch left his trust to the children. At the same time, he still harbored a childlike vision of love.
The marriage of the rich is like the merger, reorganization and splitting of listed companies, especially for the super rich. Despite four marriages, Murdoch is still able to occupy a huge fortune. According to the 2022 Forbes Global Rich List, Murdoch and his family rank 76th on the list with a wealth value of US$20.8 billion.
The trick behind this is the “family trust”. The rich set up family trusts to legally separate this part of their assets from other properties. The assets in the family trust are in an independent operation state, which can protect the family business from various potential risks and at the same time let their children eat A dose of reassurance.
When Murdoch and Wendi Deng divorced, some media commented sharply that Murdoch’s family trust was a firewall to prevent Wendi Deng from intervening in News Corporation’s business, and also kept their divorce turmoil limited to the entertainment page and would not affect News Corporation’s business. Equity and Operations.
Love is like fire, but the rich will never allow this fire to burn into their own coffers.
