The founder of the News Corp media empire married a former Russian scientist this Saturday, June 1, in California.
This is the fifth marriage for the 93-year-old conservative patriarch whose family life inspired the series “Succession.”
Since divorcing model Jerry Hall in 2022, his life has become more like an episode of The Bachelor.
Rupert Murdoch is no longer single! Already married four times in the past, the 93-year-old naturalized American Australian billionaire married for the fifth time this Saturday, June 1, in California. The lucky lady is Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old retired molecular biologist of Russian origin, whom he married in a private ceremony on his vineyard, in the presence of his loved ones. Discreetly? Not quite.
Numerous photos of the newlyweds were relayed over the weekend by the tabloid The Sun, one of the multiple satellites of News Corp, the media empire of which the businessman handed over control to his son Lachlan last November. The fact remains that if the Murdoch family inspired that of the series Successionthe patriarch’s love life seems more like an episode of The Bachelor these days.
Rupert Murdoch was married for the first time from 1956 to 1967 to Patricia Booker, an Australian flight attendant, mother of his eldest daughter Prudence. A second time from 1967 to 1999 to Anna Torv, a British journalist, mother of Lachlan, Elisabeth and James. A third time from 1999 to 2013 with Wendi Deng, a businesswoman of Chinese origin with whom he had two daughters, Grace and Chloe. And a fourth from 2016 to 2022 with the American model Jerry Hall, the ex-wife of Mick Jagger.
After divorcing the latter, Rupert Murdoch will not stay alone for very long. In March 2023, he announced his engagement to Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old American conservative radio host, whom he met a few months earlier. At the time, the businessman recounted his marriage proposal in the columns of New York Postanother of his many journals.
Two engagements in less than a year
“I was a little nervous because I knew it would be the last one. It would be better! But I’m very much in love”he admitted then. “We look forward to spending the second half of our lives together.” And then patatras! A month later, the lovebirds separate. Some see it as a banal story of big money in the kingdom of the super rich. Others argue that the pro-evangelist positions of the future Mrs. Murdoch would have cooled the ardor of Mr.
Never mind ! During the summer, Rupert Murdoch met Elena Zhukova, an American scientist of Russian origin, through Wendi Deng, his third wife with whom he remained on good terms. Ex-wife of billionaire Alexander Zhukov with whom she settled in the United States at the end of the Soviet Union, she is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, a philanthropist who was married to the oligarch Roman Abramovich. The world is small.
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Rupert Murdoch and Elena Zhukova are then seen in Italy then off the Greek island of Corfu aboard the Christina O, the former yacht of shipowner Aristotle Onassis, where the biggest names in politics and showbiz have sailed . It also served as a setting for Without Filter, the 2022 Palme d’Or for Ruben Östlund. After announcing their marriage last March, they sealed it in front of witnesses this weekend.
Could this fifth marriage have consequences for the future of the Murdoch empire? A priori no. THE New York Times points out that although Rupert Murdoch entrusted the management of News Corps to Lachlan, the family business is controlled by a trust of which he continues to share control with his four eldest children. You can never be too careful.
