Rupert Murdoch engaged for a sixth time, to marry retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova
It will be Murdoch's fifth marriage.
Five months after stepping down as chair of News Corp, billionaire Rupert Murdoch is engaged for a sixth time, this time to retired scientist Elena Zhukova.
As reported in the New York Times, last April, rumours circulated that the 92-year-old was dating Zhukova, 67, just four months after he ended his two-week-long engagement to Ann Lesley Smith.
Murdoch and Zhukova reportedly met at a family gathering hosted by his third ex-wife, Wendi Deng.
Zhukova was once married to a different billionaire, Russian Alexander Zhukov, and her daughter, Darya Zhukova was also once married to oligarch and former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovic.
The wedding will reportedly be held later this year at Murdoch's estate in California.
Murdoch first married Patricia Booker which ended in divorce in 1967. That same year he married Anna Torv, and had three children with her - Lachlan, James and Elisabeth. That marriage lasted 22 years, ending in 1999 when he married again in that same year to Wendi Deng.
His marriage to Deng also ended in divorce in 2013 and he wasn't married again until 2016, this time to Jerry Hall. The marriage reportedly ended over email in 2022.
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The news of Murdoch's soon-to-be fifth marriage comes as the media mogul stepped down as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp in September 2023.
His son, Lachlan Murdoch, is now the sole chair of News Corp and continues as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation.
“On behalf of the Fox and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” said Lachlan Murdoch upon his father's departure.
“We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”
