Anna Murdoch-Mann, a novelist, philanthropist and the second wife of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, died at her Palm Beach, Florida, home on Tuesday, 17 February 2026. She was 81. The New York Post published the first media report of her death on Friday. Murdoch-Mann’s passing closes a life that intersected with the rise of a global media empire and a long, often public, family succession struggle.
Key takeaways
- Murdoch-Mann died in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, 17 February 2026, aged 81; the New York Post first reported her death on Friday.
- She was married to Rupert Murdoch for 31 years; the couple had three children—Elisabeth, James and Lachlan—before separating in 1998 and divorcing in 1999.
- The 1999 divorce settlement was reported at approximately $1.7 billion; Murdoch-Mann remarried twice—William Mann (1999–2017) and Ashton dePeyster (2019–).
- Biographers and commentators credit her with substantial influence on News Corporation’s expansion in the 1980s and 1990s and with shaping early succession dynamics.
- She published three novels—In Her Own Image (1985), Family Business (1988) and Coming to Terms (1992)—and held philanthropic leadership roles, including at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
- In 1998 she was named a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II, reflecting recognition for her charitable work.
- In September 2025 Lachlan Murdoch was reported to have secured control of the family’s voting rights for News Corporation, a development that recast the company’s governance after decades of family disputes.
Background
Born Anna Torv in Glasgow, Scotland, Murdoch-Mann moved to Australia with her family in 1944 when she was nine, and grew up in Sydney’s working-class western suburbs. She trained as a cadet journalist at the Sydney Daily Mirror and later worked at the Sydney Daily Telegraph, where she met and later married Rupert Murdoch after he purchased one of the papers. Her journalistic roots informed both her later fiction and her active role inside the Murdoch family’s corporate orbit.
During three decades of marriage to Rupert Murdoch, she is widely described by biographers as an influential partner during a period when News Corporation transformed into a multinational media group. Observers say Murdoch-Mann combined a public-facing philanthropic profile with behind-the-scenes involvement in company affairs. Their split in 1998, amid Rupert Murdoch’s relationship with Wendi Deng, precipitated a highly public fracture that reshaped family dynamics and corporate succession planning.
Main event
Reports say Murdoch-Mann died at her residence in Palm Beach; the family has not published a detailed public statement at the time of reporting. News organizations and biographers noted that her death revives attention on her role in News Corporation’s formative decades and the private battles over control that followed. She was 81 and had lived through multiple public episodes that linked family life and corporate power.
During the late 1990s split, Murdoch-Mann left News Corporation’s board under contentious circumstances, later delivering a widely remarked farewell speech and departing escorted by her son Lachlan. The couple’s divorce was finalised in 1999 with a reported settlement of about $1.7 billion; in quick succession both ex-spouses remarried—Rupert Murdoch to Wendi Deng and Anna to financier William Mann.
Beyond the breakup, Murdoch-Mann continued to act publicly: she wrote novels that drew on family and media themes, took leadership roles in charitable institutions and, according to biographers, sought to protect her children’s prospects within the Murdoch business. Her activities ranged from advocacy on behalf of family members during crises to cultural and hospital philanthropy recognized by the Vatican in 1998.
Analysis & implications
Murdoch-Mann’s death prompts renewed scrutiny of how News Corporation has been shaped by family relationships as much as by market forces. For decades the Murdoch empire blended public corporate governance with private family arrangements; commentators say her presence helped anchor one strand of that hybrid model. Her choices during and after the divorce—legal, financial and interpersonal—have been cited as pivotal in privileging her children’s claims to succession.
The September 2025 confirmation that Lachlan Murdoch had secured controlling family voting rights in Nevada marked a later chapter in a saga in which Anna Murdoch-Mann played a formative role. Analysts see her actions—whether withdrawing certain personal claims or intervening in boardroom disputes—as moves that altered the balance among Murdoch descendants. Those shifts ultimately influenced which branches of the family could claim de facto leadership within the group.
Her death may have symbolic as well as practical effects. Symbolically, it closes a generational arc stretching from mid-century immigrant beginnings to the heights of global media influence. Practically, it removes a figure who, biographers say, often acted to mediate family tensions; absent her, intra-family contests could take new forms or accelerate. Investors and corporate watchers will observe any statements or shifts from News Corporation and the family over the coming weeks as signs of immediate impact.
Comparison & data
| Year | Event | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Family migration | Anna Torv moved from Glasgow to Sydney (reported age nine) |
| 1985–1992 | Novels published | In Her Own Image (1985); Family Business (1988); Coming to Terms (1992) |
| 1998 | Split | Separation from Rupert Murdoch after his relationship with Wendi Deng |
| 1999 | Divorce settlement | Reported payment of around $1.7 billion |
| 2017 | William Mann dies | Murdoch-Mann widowed after second marriage |
| 2019 | Third marriage | Married Ashton dePeyster |
| 2025 | Succession ruling | Lachlan Murdoch gained controlling family voting rights (reported Sept 2025) |
The table highlights key chronological markers: migration and early career, literary output, family rupture and settlement, and later succession outcomes. Together these datapoints show the intersection of private life events and corporate governance that defined Murdoch-Mann’s public profile.
Reactions & quotes
Scholars of the Murdoch family characterised Murdoch-Mann as a central, if sometimes overlooked, figure in the company’s history. Her friends and biographers emphasised both her strategic instincts and personal warmth.
“She played a foundational role in the history of the company and had a huge influence on its most spectacular growth phase in the 1980s and 1990s.”
Paddy Manning, author
Manning and others recalled moments when Murdoch-Mann intervened on behalf of her children or sought to steady the family during crises, including the phone-hacking scandal of 2011. Commentators also noted that legal and personal choices made around the divorce altered succession calculations for decades.
“By renouncing some entitlements she secured her children’s futures and narrowed the field of potential successors.”
David McKnight, author
Friends from early journalism years remembered her energy and tact; Blanche d’Alpuget, a fellow cadet and long-time friend, described both Murdoch-Mann’s personal vivacity and the social mobility she pursued after emigrating to Australia.
“She was lively, strategic and full of fun — someone who combined ambition with charm.”
Blanche d’Alpuget, writer
Unconfirmed
- No official cause of death has been released by the family or by public records at the time of reporting.
- Some accounts of her removal from the News Corp board rely on personal recollection and company notices; precise internal deliberations around that decision are not independently verified in public records.
- Assertions about the exact legal mechanics by which she adjusted her estate rights to prioritise her children have been described by biographers but are not documented in a public legal filing available to reporters.
Bottom line
Anna Murdoch-Mann’s death marks the passing of a figure who bridged journalism, literary effort, philanthropy and a pivotal role inside one of the world’s most influential media families. Biographers and contemporaries portray her as someone whose personal decisions and public interventions helped shape both News Corporation’s rise and the fractious succession story that followed.
Beyond corporate inheritance and headlines, her life—immigrant roots, a journalistic start, three novels and long-standing philanthropic commitments—speaks to a broader narrative about women who operated at the nexus of private family life and sweeping public influence. In the near term, analysts and family-watchers will look for any statements from News Corporation, her children or trustees to understand immediate practical consequences; in the longer term, her role will remain a reference point in histories of media power and family-run business succession.
Sources
- The Guardian (news report)
- New York Post (media report cited as first to publish the death)
- News Corp (corporate site for company background)
- HBO – Succession (cultural reference on the family dynamic depicted in drama)