Media baron Rupert Murdoch & American model Jerry Hall getting a divorce: Report

Billionaire Rupert Murdoch (91) and former supermodel Jerry Hall (65) are getting a divorce, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the situation. 

Rupert Murdoch’s fourth divorce is unlikely to alter the ownership structure of the businesses he holds stakes in, which include Fox Corp, the parent company of Fox News Channel and News Corp (NWSA.O), publisher of the Wall Street Journal, according to the report. 

In March 2016, Rupert Murdoch married Jerry Hall in a low-key ceremony in central London. The Fox Corp (FOXA.O) chairman and his former supermodel wife were frequently the subject of tabloid stories, which detailed their marriage at Spencer House and the festivities surrounding the elder Murdoch’s 90th birthday celebration at Tavern on the Green in New York City last year.

The 91-year-old Billionaire, Murdoch, controls News Corp and FOX Corp through a Reno, Nevada-based family trust that holds roughly a 40% stake in voting shares of each company. 

Lachlan Murdoch to take more prominent role in running Rupert's businesses

According to a New York Times report, Bryce Tom, a spokesperson for Murdoch, declined to comment and a representative for Hall, who is 65, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The report further said that people close to Rupert Murdoch were surprised to hear of the end of their marriage. This allowed Rupert’s oldest son Lachlan Murdoch to take a more prominent role in running businesses, including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. 

The billionaire with an estimate of $17.7 billion, built a massive media empire with assets around the globe. He sold the Fox film and television studios and other entertainment assets to Walt Disney (DIS.N) in a $ 71.3% billion deal that closed in March 2019. 

Rupert Murdoch was previously married to entrepreneur Wendi Deng, whom he divorced in 2014 after 14 years of marriage. They have two daughters. He split from his second wife, Anna Murdoch Mann, a Scottish journalist with whom he had three children, in 1999. He and his first wife, Patricia Booker, a former flight attendant with whom he had a daughter, divorced in 1966.