Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 93, on Saturday tied the knot for the fifth time, marrying retired Russian biologist Elena Zhukova, 67. According to the BBC, he was rumoured to have started dating Zhukova after his engagement with former police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith was called off in 2023.
Murdoch’s wedding was held at his Californian vineyard in Bel Air. According to CBS News, the couple announced their engagement in March. Originally from Moscow, Zhukova moved to the United States in 1991.
The couple met at a party hosted by his ex-wife, Chinese-born entrepreneur Wendi Deng, BBC reported.
Zhukova was previously married to Russian oil billionaire Alexander Zhukov. They have a daughter together, Dasha Zhukova. She is a socialite and businesswoman who was married to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich until 2017, as per BBC.
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According to NDTV, Zhukova describes her family as “usual, normal Moscow intelligentsia”.
Rupert Murdoch and his fourth wife, supermodel Jerry Hall, divorced in 2022. His other ex-wives are Anna Murdoch Mann and Patricia Booker, and he has six children.
Murdoch recently stepped down as chairman of Fox News and News Corp, with his son Lachlan taking his place in the media empire.
According to BBC, the media magnate began his career in Australia in the 1950s – eventually buying the News of the World and the Sun newspapers in the UK in 1969. He later purchased several US publications, including the New York Post and Wall Street Journal. In 1996, he launched Fox News, which has become a popular news source among many US conservative audiences and politicians, as per CBS News. Through News Corp, founded in 2013, Murdoch remains the owner of hundreds of local, national and international media outlets, reports BBC.
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