Geri Hall is expected to receive tens of millions of pounds and an £11m Oxfordshire estate as part of her divorce settlement from billionaire Rupert Murdoch.
The couple settled the case this week, less than two months after they separated. As part of the settlement, it was reported that Murdoch would give Hall Holmwood House, a sprawling Georgian country estate between Reading and Henley on the Thames.
The 66-year-old former model is also expected to take possession of a home in the south of France, but the deal does not give her control over Murdoch’s many US properties, according to the Daily Mail.
Hall’s attorney did not respond to a request for clarity on the terms of her settlement with the 91-year-old media baron.
In a joint statement, representatives of the former couple confirmed that the proceedings were over: “Jerry and Rupert Murdoch have finalized their divorce. They remain good friends and wish each other the best for the future.
Murdoch’s decision to end his fourth marriage led to speculation about the reasons for the split. The pair married in 2016 after a whirlwind romance, with Murdoch celebrating the occasion by taking to Twitter to declare himself “the luckiest and luckiest man in the world”.
Relations appear to have soured during the prolonged pandemic lockdowns. Multiple sources suggest that Hall was at odds with Murdoch’s children from his previous marriages. The Daily Beast even claims that his successor Lachlan Murdoch helped settle his father’s divorce and discussed potential PR strategies to deal with the fallout.
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The divorce created a briefing war involving both parties, with claims about how the separation went down appearing in the press. This included Murdoch allegedly informing Hall via email that he wanted them to separate before referring any further questions to his lawyers. In response, it is alleged that Hall had divorce papers citing “irreconcilable differences” served on Murdoch while he was at RAF Brize Norton preparing to take off on his private jet.
On Wednesday, she asked a judge in Los Angeles to dismiss the case, with the settlement negotiated out of court instead.
Hall’s legal documents state that she lives in a Murdoch mansion in Los Angeles, which has the only vineyard in the city. He may have to find another American base while he settles for Holmwood House’s 11 bedrooms.
Estimates of the final amount of money Hall will receive range from £50m to £250m, a relatively small sum for one of the world’s richest men. The couple are understood to have entered into a prenuptial agreement outlining what she would receive in the event of a split.
Both Hall and Murdoch have previously faced difficult breakups. The media mogul, whose interests range from Fox News to the Times and the Sun, paid around $1.7bn (£1.4bn) to settle his 1999 divorce from second wife Anna, mother of three of his children . He also paid a substantial amount to divorce Wendy Deng in 2013. The couple had two children.
Hall was previously in a relationship with Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones. When they separated, a British court ruled that their 1990 wedding in Bali had never been legally valid under either Indonesian or UK law.
Representatives for Hall and Murdoch have been reached for comment.
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