NEW YORK: Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch has got engaged to a retired molecular biologist, Elena Zhukova. The 92-year-old is set to marry Zhukova, 62, on June 1 in a ceremony on his California vineyard and estate, Moraga, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Murdoch reportedly began seeing Zhukova during the summer after meeting her through his third wife, Wendi Deng. Zhukova is described as a retired molecular biologist who studied diabetes at the University of California, Los Angeles. The New York Times first reported the new engagement.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the news comes nearly a year after Murdoch announced his engagement to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist, in the spring of 2023. But he broke it off a few weeks later.
The upcoming June nuptials would make it Murdoch's fifth marriage. He was previously married to model Jerry Hall from 2016 to 2022. He married Patricia Booker in 1956, but they divorced eleven years later, in 1967. They have one child. He later married his second wife, Anna Maria Torv, in 1967, and the couple had three children. After 32 years of marriage, the couple parted in 1999. Murdoch and his third wife, Deng, were married in 1999 but divorced in 2013.
They also have two children together. Zhukova, who moved to the United States from Moscow, was formerly married to billionaire energy investor Alexander Zhukov. Last year, Murdoch revealed that he was stepping down as the chairman of his empire, Fox Corp. and News Corp, transitioning to the role of chairman emeritus.
His son Lachlan Murdoch took over the top title at the two companies. "For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change," he wrote in a letter to employees in September. "But the time is right for me to take on different roles, knowing that we have truly talented teams and a passionate, principled leader in Lachlan who will become sole chairman of both companies," as per The Hollywood Reporter.