Anna Murdoch Mann, the journalist, novelist and philanthropist who was married to media billionaire Rupert Murdoch for more than three decades has died aged 81.
She died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday, February 17, according to reports from Murdoch owned outlets and Australian media.
Murdoch Mann, born Anna Torv in Glasgow in 1944, moved to Australia as a child and started her working life in Sydney newsrooms including jobs at the Daily Mirror and the Daily Telegraph.
She met Murdoch as a young journalist and the pair married in 1967. They had three children, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James.
During the marriage she was widely seen as a key figure alongside Murdoch as his company grew. She later served on the News Corporation board.
Away from the media business, Murdoch Mann published three novels including In Her Own Image, Family Business and Coming to Terms.
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She also became known for supporting children’s and health causes. In 1998 she was made a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II.
The couple separated in 1998 after Murdoch began a relationship with Wendi Deng and divorced the following year.
In an Australian Women’s Weekly interview, Murdoch Mann spoke about leaving the News Corp board.
She said that “I wasn’t given a choice. I was told … ‘you get off the board’.”
She later married Wall Street financier William Mann in 1999. After his death in 2017, she married Ashton dePeyster in 2019.
Murdoch Mann is survived by dePeyster, her three children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
