Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who retired from the boards of Fox and News Corporation last year, married for the fifth time at age 93 on Saturday, tying the knot with Elena Zhukova, who is a quarter century younger than him.
Murdoch and Elena Zhukova, 67, were wedded at the media mogul’s California vineyard and estate, called Moraga.
Who is Elena Zhukova?
Zhukova is a retired molecular biologist, specialising in diabetes research, including at the University of California, Los Angeles.
She is the mother of Russian American art collector Dasha Zhukova and the former wife of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Zhukova moved to the United States from Moscow toward the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. In the US, her ex-husband became a billionaire energy investor (he now resides in London as a British citizen).
Her daughter Dasha (42), a prominent philanthropist, entrepreneur and arts patron, was married to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich until 2017.
Murdoch met Zhukova at a family gathering organised by his third wife, Wendi Deng, The Daily Mail reported in August 2023, when it broke the news of their relationship.
The news of the couple’s engagement broke in March 2024, beginning a new chapter in his romantic life after his split from conservative radio host Ann Lesley Smith.
Rupert Murdoch’s Previous Marriages
Murdoch had previously been married four times, most recently to model Jerry Hall, the longtime partner of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
Murdoch, who has six children, was first married to Patricia Booker, an Australian flight attendant, whom he divorced in the late 1960s.
He and his second wife, Anna Torv, a newspaper reporter, were together for more than 30 years before divorcing in 1999. His third marriage to Wendi Deng ended in 2013.
His roller-coaster personal life is often fodder for the tabloid newspaper industry that he helped foster on three continents.
After he divorced Hall in the summer of 2022, Murdoch got engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist, in the spring of 2023. However, he abruptly called off the planned nuptials less than a month later.
About Murdoch
The Australia-born Murdoch, whose media empire includes The Wall Street Journal, Fox News and other influential outlets, and his family have a network of about $20 billion, according to Forbes.
Murdoch handed over control of his global media empire to son Lachlan last November, shifting to an emeritus status.
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