End of an Era: Anna Murdoch-Mann Dies Aged 81
Anna Murdoch-Mann, ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch, dies at 81, leaving a $1.7B divorce legacy and deep ties to the News Corp empire.
Anna Murdoch-Mann, the former wife of writer and media magnate Rupert Murdoch, has passed away at the age of 81, media outlets have reported.
Married to the magnate for 31 years, the New York Post described her as an "active partner" in building News Corp.
She was the mother of Murdoch's three children, Elizabeth, James, and Lachlan Murdoch—now chairman of Fox and News Corp.—and stepmother to his daughter, Prudence.
Murdoch-Mann was an active philanthropist and died on February 17th at her home in Palm Beach, Florida, "surrounded by family."
Born Anna Torv in Glasgow and raised Catholic, she moved to Australia at the age of nine. After her parents' divorce, she is said to have raised her siblings on her own.
Murdoch-Mann became a reporter for the Sydney Daily Telegraph and Sydney Daily Mirror, where she met Rupert Murdoch and served on his company's board.
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"He never made a major business decision without her input," writes The Australian, another title in his media stable.
She wrote several novels during their marriage, including 1988's Family Business, which chronicles the lives of a media dynasty over several generations.
The couple moved to London, where in 1969 a woman was kidnapped in Hertfordshire and held for ransom – mistaken for Murdoch-Mann.
Muriel McKay was killed by her kidnappers, and in recent years there have been renewed attempts to find her body.
The then-Murdoch family divorced in 1999, one of the most expensive separations in history – Murdoch-Mann received a settlement of $1.7 billion (£1 billion).
According to Australian media reports, Murdoch married his third wife, Wendi Deng, 17 days later.
In an exclusive interview following their separation, Murdoch-Mann told the Australian Women's Weekly, "I think there will be a lot of sadness and difficulty regarding the succession of Murdoch's media empire."
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He added, "There has been a lot of pressure on him that shouldn't have happened at his age."
This battle inspired the television series "Succession," and in real life, it also played out in court. It ended when Murdoch's eldest son, Lachlan, assumed control of News Group late last year.
Her mother also remarried, first to financier William Mann, who died in 2017.
Murdoch-Mann later married her third husband, Ashton DePeyster, who survives her, along with 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
The philanthropist served on the boards of several children's hospitals, including in Los Angeles and Haiti.
In 1998, Pope John Paul II made her a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory.
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