Marta Fitzgerald is a former aerobics instructor and journalism graduate from Titusville, Florida, best known as the ex-wife of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. The two were married from 1994 to 2004 — ten years, the longest of Limbaugh’s four marriages. When it ended, she stepped away from public life entirely and has not returned since.
Almost every article published about her online contains at least one significant factual error. The original Associated Press wire from her 1994 wedding states it directly: “It was the third marriage for both Limbaugh, 43, and Fitzgerald.” A large number of the articles that rank for her name call her Rush’s second wife. She was not.
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Quick Facts: Marta Fitzgerald
| Full Name | Marta Maranda Fitzgerald |
| Date of Birth | December 10, 1960 |
| Birthplace | Titusville, Florida |
| Education | University of North Florida, Journalism |
| Known For | Ex-wife of Rush Limbaugh |
| Marriage | May 27, 1994 to December 21, 2004 |
| Children | Son and daughter (from prior marriage) |
| Current Status | Private, believed to be in Florida |
Early Life and Education
Born on December 10, 1960, Marta grew up in Titusville, a mid-sized Florida city on the Atlantic coast. Her mother is Esther Seegert Peluso, who was quoted directly by the Palm Beach Post at the time of the 2004 divorce announcement. Details about her father and siblings have never been made public.
She attended the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, earning a degree in Journalism. In 1993, by which point she was already in a relationship with Rush Limbaugh, she took an internship at Jacksonville’s Florida Times-Union. She had also been working as an aerobics instructor throughout this period, a career she kept long after graduating.
How Many Times Was Marta Fitzgerald Married?
Three times — though nearly every article on the subject says two.
The confusion is rooted in years of repeated sourcing errors across celebrity bio websites. Both the AP wire from the wedding day and the Tulsa World’s original 1994 coverage confirm it was “the third marriage for both Limbaugh and Fitzgerald.” The Biography Archive records the same conclusion.
The breakdown:
- First husband: Identity has never been publicly disclosed. No children on record from this marriage.
- Second husband: Tom Fitzgerald, whose last name she kept. From this marriage, she has a son and a daughter, both of whom remain entirely private. She and Tom divorced in 1992.
- Third husband: Rush Limbaugh, married 1994, divorced 2004.
This distinction matters because the standard claim circulating online — that Rush was her second husband — is directly contradicted by primary wire reporting from the day of the wedding.
How Did Marta Fitzgerald Meet Rush Limbaugh?
In 1990, Marta was still married to Tom Fitzgerald when she sent Rush Limbaugh a message through CompuServe, one of the first mainstream online services in the United States. Her screen name was “Jacksonville Jaguar.”
The message had a specific purpose: she was looking for advice on how to push back against a university professor who had been criticizing President Ronald Reagan in class.
Rush did not respond.
She sent a second message, this time calling him “pompous” and accusing him of ignoring her.
That one he answered.
Her then-husband Tom Fitzgerald later confirmed this account to the Florida Times-Union: “That is how the whole relationship got started. They started corresponding back and forth.”
From there, the correspondence grew into phone calls and a relationship. Marta finalized her divorce from Tom in 1992. She and Rush had been in contact for two years by that point and began dating openly soon after.
The Wedding: One Detail Nearly Everyone Reports Incorrectly
The ceremony was held on May 27, 1994, and one specific detail has been misreported across dozens of articles ever since: the location.
Many websites describe the wedding as taking place “at the U.S. Supreme Court.” That is wrong. The original AP wire and the Tulsa World’s 1994 wedding-day coverage both confirm it was held at the Virginia home of Justice Clarence Thomas, who officiated the ceremony.
The guest list was small and deliberate:
- William Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education
- James Carville, Democratic strategist
- Mary Matalin, Republican consultant — Carville’s wife and ideological counterpart
The ceremony remained private until the following day. It was the third marriage for both.
Her Career: Neckties, Journalism, and a Magazine That Ran Out of Road
During Rush Limbaugh’s syndicated television program, which ran from 1992 to 1996, he became known across the country for his unusually bold neckties. Viewer interest in the ties grew enough that Limbaugh launched a retail line in 1995 called the No Boundaries Collection — designed by Marta, and kept deliberately free of political themes or messaging.
According to Wikipedia, citing the New York Times, the collection was stocked in nearly 1,500 retail outlets by 1996 and brought in more than $5 million in sales in its first year.
Marta then took the money she had earned through that venture and put it into a media project of her own.
Inside the Vent Magazine Collapse
In June 1997, she called a staff meeting at her new offices in Suite 310 of the Esperante Building in downtown West Palm Beach. She told the room: “I have enough money to run this magazine for two years without making a dime.”
The publication was called Vent — a quarterly aimed at Generation X readers aged 18 to 24, positioned as a how-to guide for young adults. What followed was documented in detail by journalist Michael Koretzky, who covered the Palm Beach media scene at the time:
- A managing editor was hired and let go before Marta had even moved into the office, receiving roughly half a year’s salary to stay quiet about the project
- One art director lasted eight days, dismissed after a disagreement about equipment orders. Marta bought the equipment anyway.
- Three contract art directors from a Miami staffing agency moved through the role over a span of three months
- A second full-time art director was dismissed after six months
- At least one writer was fired after ten days for calling in from home
When a Palm Beach Post reporter called in September 1997 asking about the launch date, Marta said the first issue would be out “really soon” and ended the call.
The first issue of Vent appeared in March 1998. By October 1998, after just three issues, the magazine shut down. Staff arrived at the office to find a note on the door announcing the closure. The reason given: Marta needed to care for her teenage son, who had broken his leg.
A former staffer who later spoke about the publication received a legal warning letter from New York attorney Arthur Ginsburg on Marta’s behalf, advising against sharing “personal opinions” about her conduct.
The 2004 Divorce: What Rush Said, and What the Record Also Shows
On June 11, 2004, Rush Limbaugh went on air and told his listeners he was divorcing his wife — before any legal filings had been made. His spokesman, Tony Knight, released a statement saying the couple had “mutually decided to end their marriage of 10 years” and that the split was unrelated to Limbaugh’s ongoing legal situation involving prescription drug use.
Rush stated publicly that he had been the one to initiate the divorce.
The Biography Archive, drawing from Palm Beach area coverage, records a different account: Marta was the one who first moved out of their shared living arrangement. The two had reportedly been living in separate houses on adjoining lots for part of the marriage and were rarely seen together in public.
The divorce was finalized on December 21, 2004, in Monroe County, Florida. Circuit Judge Sandra Taylor sealed the 22-page settlement. Its financial terms have not been disclosed publicly.
Some context on the property involved: Rush had purchased the couple’s Palm Beach compound on North Ocean Boulevard in 1998 for $3.9 million, a three-home property totaling roughly 24,000 square feet. Separately, in 2000, Marta purchased a home at 108 Mediterranean Road for $2.3 million in her own name — her own real estate acquisition, independent of the shared compound.
Where Is Marta Fitzgerald Now?
Since the divorce, she has given no recorded interviews and attended no public events on record. Credible sources indicate she is living in Florida and has been involved in real estate, though no specifics have been confirmed.
Her Instagram account (@mpost71315) has been private since at least 2021, with a small following.
A net worth estimate of approximately $5 million appears frequently on celebrity websites, but no verified primary source exists for that figure. The 2004 divorce settlement was sealed by court order and remains confidential.
She made no public statement when Rush Limbaugh died on February 17, 2021, from complications of lung cancer. He was 70 years old.
What the Record Actually Shows
At 65 years old, Marta Fitzgerald remains one of the more deliberately invisible figures connected to a man who spent his career at maximum volume. She designed fashion merchandise that sold millions. She launched and lost a media venture inside seven months. She was married three times, not twice — a basic fact that the majority of published articles about her still get wrong.
The public record on her is thinner than it should be, and less accurate than it appears. What is clear is that she has made an active choice to keep it that way.
