Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 92, has announced his engagement to retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 62. The couple is set to marry on June 1 at Murdoch’s California estate, Moraga, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Murdoch is said to have started dating Zhukova last summer after being introduced by his third wife, Wendi Deng. Zhukova, who studied diabetes at the University of California, Los Angeles, is described as a retired molecular biologist.
The engagement to Zhukova comes almost a year after Murdoch’s engagement to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist, in the spring of 2023, which was called off a few weeks later. This upcoming marriage will be Murdoch’s fifth. He was previously married to model Jerry Hall from 2016 to 2022.
Murdoch’s first marriage was to Patricia Booker in 1956, which ended in divorce in 1967. They have one child together. He then married Anna Maria Torv in 1967, and they had three children before divorcing in 1999. His third marriage was to Wendi Deng in 1999, but they divorced in 2013 and have two children.
Zhukova, who hails from Moscow, was previously married to billionaire energy investor Alexander Zhukov.
Last year, Murdoch announced that he would be stepping down as the chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp., handing over the reins to his son Lachlan Murdoch. In a letter to employees, he expressed his confidence in Lachlan’s leadership and stated that while his daily engagement with news and ideas would continue, it was time for him to take on different roles.
