Billionaire Rupert Murdoch, 92, engaged for 6th time

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is giving love a sixth chance.

On Thursday, Murdoch’s office confirmed to the New York Times that the 92-year-old is engaged to Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old retired Russian molecular biologist.

The outlet said Murdoch and Zhukova began dating last summer, shortly after the Fox News creator called off his engagement to former police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith.

This is Murdoch’s sixth engagement, and should the couple wed, it will be his fifth marriage.

The wedding is scheduled for June. Invitations have already been sent for a ceremony to be hosted at Murdoch’s California vineyard and estate, called Moraga.

Murdoch reportedly met Zhukova through his third wife, Wendi Deng.

Zhukova was previously married to Russian-born billionaire Alexander Zhukov, founder of the international investment group Interfinance. The ex-couple have one daughter, Dasha Zhukova, an art collector and philanthropist.

Zhukova’s marriage is unlikely to change any of the assets owned by Murdoch, as they are controlled by a family trust with shares belonging to Murdoch and his four eldest children. (Murdoch has six children in total.)

Rupert Murdoch’s ex-wives

Murdoch’s love life has long since been the subject of tabloid speculation, often by the very publications he owns.

The 92-year-old business tycoon has been married four times.

He first wed Australian flight attendant Patricia Booker in 1956 and the pair had one child, Prudence. Murdoch and Booker divorced in 1967 after 11 years of marriage.

Also in 1967, Murdoch married Scottish journalist Anna Murdoch Mann (born Anna Maria Torv) and had three children, daughter Elisabeth and sons Lachlan and James. Murdoch and Mann divorced in 1999. Their 32-year relationship is Murdoch’s longest.

Murdoch then married Wendi Deng, a Chinese-born entrepreneur and movie producer, only two weeks after finalizing his divorce from Mann. Deng and Murdoch had two daughters, Grace and Chloe. The couple divorced in 2016.

Murdoch was last married to American model Jerry Hall. Before marrying Murdoch, Hall was the long-term partner of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger. Hall and Murdoch wed in 2016, and later divorced in 2023 after six years together.

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He then began dating Smith, and proposed on March 17 in New York City.

At the time, Murdoch told The New York Post, which he owns, that he “dreaded falling in love.”

“But I knew this would be my last. It better be,” he said.

The engagement was called off about two weeks after it was announced.

Who is Rupert Murdoch?

Murdoch, who was born in Australia, owns News Corp., a multinational mass media group that possesses hundreds of local, national and international media assets, including Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and book publisher HarperCollins. His net worth is estimated at US$9.02 billion.

Murdoch inherited a newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, from his father in 1952 and eventually built a news and entertainment enterprise that has asserted dominance in the U.S. and Britain.

In September 2023, Murdoch announced that he would be stepping down as leader of his companies. He appointed his son Lachlan as his successor at Fox and the rest of the media empire.

Fox said Murdoch would become chairman emeritus of both the news network’s parent company, Fox Corp., and the News Corp. media holdings.

Fox News Channel has profoundly influenced television and national politics since its start in 1996, making Murdoch a hero to some and pariah to others. The 24-hour network converted the power and energy of political talk radio to television. Within six years, it outrated CNN and MSNBC.

— with files from The Associated Press

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