(Instagram/Melissa Francis)
Fox News and Fox Business Network anchor Melissa Francis is married to Wray Thorn. The couple have been married since 1997 and are the parents of three children – sons Greyson and Thompson, and daughter Gemma.
Journalism is the 44-year-old Francis‘ second career. Billed as “Missy Francis,” she was first a child actress. Her most famous role was playing Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on two seasons of Little House on the Prairie. She also appeared in the movie Man, Woman and Child and the show Morningstar/Eveningstar. She left acting behind for good in the 1990s, graduating from Harvard in 1995 and becoming a journalist.
Francis joined CNBC in 2003, launching her career as a financial reporter. In 2012, she joined Fox News and FBN, where she’s been ever since. She currently anchors the weekday show America’s News Headquarters on Fox News.
Here’s what you need to know about Francis’ husband and family.
1. Thorn Is a Managing Director at Two Sigma Ventures
As Thorn’s LinkedIn page notes, he also graduated from Harvard, attending between 1989 and 1993. Thorn and Francis met in Boston.
His career began at Chemical Bank – known as JPMorgan Chase today – as a member of the acquisition finance group. He also worked at Dubilier & Co., Fox Paine & Co., LLC and Marathon Asset Management.
Since 2012, the 44-year-old Thorn has been managing director at Two Sigma Ventures. He leads the company’s private investment and ventures businesses. According to his company bio, he has been involved in “17 stand-alone management buyouts, 37 add-on acquisitions, realizations, corporate financings, fundraisings and other principal transactions, and 10 leverage financings totaling approximately $25 billion in aggregate consideration.”
2. In 2010, They Moved to a Newly-Built Carnagie Hill Apartment Decorated by Francis’ Friend
Francis and Thorn previously lived in a Chelsea loft. However, in June 2010, they found a Carnegie Hill condo that was just being built. They decided to move there because it had more space for their children.
“We loved being downtown, but the boys go to school up here and we wanted to be closer to it. We were looking for an open floor plan, and that’s hard to find uptown,” Francis told the New York Post in 2012. “And then we saw this Carnegie Hill condo. It was still under construction, and it had just seven single-floor units. We walked in, and I was sold.”
The condo was decorated by Celerie Kemble, one of Francis’ close friends and a Harvard classmate. They bought it before the condo was finished, so Kemble had free reign to design the 3,100-square-feet space. They paid $4.1 million for the condo, including the renovations.
“I had Thompson at the time and was seven months pregnant with Greyson,” Francis told the Post. “We were closing on the apartment, I was anchoring my shows, I was putting together my book and I had a very tough pregnancy. My plate was full.”
In 2014, she tool Closer Weekly on a tour of the apartment. She described the decor as “New York-European-Swedish influence.”
3. 1 Reason Francis Married Wray Was Because He Doesn’t Think Her Feet Are Ugly
In a 2012 interview with Us Weekly, Francis said she thinks she has the “ugliest feet in the world” and no one will ever see them. But Wray didn’t think they were ugly.
“I married my husband because he said my feet aren’t ugly — just sad,” she told Us Weekly.
In a 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Francis said she thought she wasn’t comfortable as an actress and just grew out of it.
“I was going to eventually go to college no matter what. I decided to go to Harvard, the place I had been accepted that was the furthest from Hollywood,” she told Winfrey. “I realized that I was done with that part of my life, that it was time to move on to something else. I’m ultimately really glad that I did that.”
4. Francis & Wray Had Their Daughter Via Surrogacy Because Francis Has a Condition Called Factor V Leiden
Having a family was a difficult process for Francis and Wray. As Woman Around Town notes, Francis has a hereditary condition called Factor V Leiden, which made it difficult for her to have children.
In fact, both of her pregnancies were dangerous for her. Her doctor said that another pregnancy could lead to death, but Wray and Francis still wanted a third child. Their daughter, Gemma, was born via surrogacy.
“The genetic mutation caused high-risk pregnancies with both my sons and, after my doctor told me having more children was way too dangerous, we had our daughter Gemma with the shockingly generous help of a surrogate family,” Francis told Fox News Insider.
5. Francis Says Thorn Is ‘Very Involved’ in His Children’s Lives
In a 2013 interview with New York Family, Francis said Thorn is very involved in their children’s lives and helps manage their busy schedule. “He knows more moms at school than I do! He’s very involved… and very patient,” Francis told the site.
In a 2017 Fox News post, Francis wrote that Thorn is “tortured by the same I-can’t-be-in-two-places-at-once guilt just like me,” and her “Mom Perma Guilt” theory can be applied to dads, too.
“I propose that this Mother’s Day we give ourselves the ultimate in luxurious gifts: a break. And while we are at it, give every mother you know one, too,” Francis wrote on Fox News.com. “Forgive yourself. Have a laugh with the mother next to you (and don’t mention that she has grape baby-yo in her bangs.) Because when we are constantly beating ourselves to a pulp about what we aren’t doing, we miss the joy that’s right in front of us every day: the love, pleasure, and laughter that come from the messy imperfect lives we are so blessed to have.”
Francis has published two books, Lessons from the Prairie (2017) and Diary of a Stage Mother’s Daughter: A Memoir (2012).
