Rupert Murdoch married for the fifth time. The 93-year-old media mogul married retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 67, on Saturday in a ceremony at Murdoch’s California winery, believed to be Moraga Estate in Bel Air. Photos of the nuptials were circulating among various media outlets, including those owned by Murdoch’s News Corp., such as the British tabloid. The sun.
The couple announced their engagement in early March.
Murdoch’s marital history includes four previous marriages. His first marriage was to Patricia Booker in 1956, which ended in divorce in 1967. The same year he married Scottish journalist and novelist Anna Torv. They had three children together but eventually separated in 1999.
Shortly after divorcing Torv, Murdoch married Wendi Deng, then vice president of Star TV, a company acquired by News Corp in 1993. They had two daughters before divorcing in 2013. Three years later, Murdoch married Jerry Hall; their marriage was short-lived, as Hall filed for divorce in July 2022. A month after their divorce, the business mogul moved on with Ann Lesley Smith. They got engaged in spring 2023, but Murdoch called off their engagement less than a month later.
Murdoch reportedly began dating Zhukova last summer after meeting her through Deng.
This is not Zhukova’s first marriage. She was previously married to billionaire entrepreneur Alexander Zhukov, founder of Interfinance. Their daughter, Dasha, was previously married to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Last year, Murdoch stepped down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp., and his son Lachlan Murdoch took over the title. As reported The New York Timeshis marriage to Zhukova is unlikely to affect the future of his media empire, as it is controlled by a family trust.
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