One of the world’s wealthiest men, Rupert Murdoch is getting married. The 84-year-old mogul has been married three times and this will be his fourth. His fiancée, Jerry Hall, is 59 years old. He could be her father and I wish I could say it’s true love. It may be but similar partnerships have shown us otherwise over the years. When younger women marry these old men, it’s usually for money. At 59, Jerry Hall is not exactly young but there’s still a 25 year gap between the couple. As of 2015, Murdoch’s net worth was $12.4 billion and he probably proposed with a multi-million diamond ring among other plush gifts. My girlfriends and I have debated this subject so many times and we’re always split. Most of us always say we wouldn’t marry men over 40 and no offence to men over 40, for two reasons. Chances are they’re already married and you’d therefore become a second or third wife. If they’re not married, then they probably have kids and that would mean you would become a step mum if you married them. If you have the time and patience to invest in those new relationships, then it wouldn’t be such a bad idea but I don’t know many twenty or even thirty-year-olds eager to raise other people’s children. My friends who are okay with settling for older partners say they appreciate the maturity and stability such men offer. Like I said, this is something we frequently argue about. Ideally, we all want comfortable lives and I don’t think there’s any woman out there who dreams of marrying a broke man and living in “poverty ever after”. You want a gainfully employed partner or even one who’s self-employed and you know that whatever he does will help the two of you pay the bills and ensure your children never go hungry or fail to get a good education. That is different from going for a man because of his money and I know many women know the difference. The very reason gold diggers go for rich men is the same reason I would never marry one. Not that I’m being wooed by some wealthy guy and I doubt I ever will be but that’s okay because I really don’t think I want that life but anyway, back to the point I was trying to make. If you’re one of those girls in it for the money, then you probably would be counting down to the day you can collect your divorce settlement or inheritance because the truth of the matter is that while death is certain for each one of us, older people are more likely to die due to all the complications that come with ageing. Since I’m not keen on becoming a divorcée or widow anytime soon, not to mention having to deal with all the drama from ensuing battles with his relatives and other children, I would much rather enjoy life with a regular man closer to my own age. There’s only one exception I have for this younger woman-older man scenario and that was Nelson Mandela who married Graça Machel in 1998. He was 80, Graça was 53.
