Rupert Murdoch, 92, plans to marry for 5th time
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who turns 93 next week, has been married four times — and engaged again, his representative said Saturday.
He plans to marry Elena Zhukova, 67, a Russian-born retired scientist he met last year.
Her ex-husband Alexander Zhukov is a billionaire energy investor and Russian politician. Their daughter Dasha was previously married to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of Premier League football club Chelsea.
Last fall, Murdoch stepped down as leader of both Fox News’ parent company and his media interests in News Corp. and his son, Lachlan, took his place in a media empire that spans continents and has helped shape modern American politics.
In 1952, Murdoch inherited a newspaper from his father in his native Australia. Over the decades, he built a news and entertainment business that became dominant in the United States and Britain, including ownership of landmark newspapers such as The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal.
Fox News Channel, the 24-hour network founded in 1996, has profoundly influenced television and has become a trusted news source for many conservative American viewers and politicians.
There have also been very public struggles. Last year, it paid $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit related to reporting of false claims about the results of the 2020 presidential election.
A few months earlier, Fox had ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular TV personality, whose political theories and fiery commentary made him an influential force in Republican politics.
In addition to Fox News, Rupert Murdoch founded the Fox broadcast network, the first to successfully challenge the Big Three of ABC, CBS and NBC, with shows like “The Simpsons.” He also controlled the New York Post, another popular conservative outlet.
Murdoch has been married four times and shares six children with three of his wives. Murdoch’s family is said to have been the model for the HBO drama Succession. The family’s net worth is estimated by Forbes at approximately $19 billion.
Murdoch’s last marriage, to model and actor Jerry Hall, ended in divorce in 2022 after six years. They had no children together.
He was previously married to Patricia Booker, an Australian, with whom he had Prudence, and then to Scottish-born journalist Anna Torv, with whom he had Lachlan, James and Elisabeth. These four Murdoch children have equal stakes in the family trust and an equal say in what happens to the trust’s voting shares after Murdoch’s death. He later married Chinese-born Wendi Deng, whom he divorced in 2013 after having two daughters, Grace and Chloe.
He was engaged to Ann Lesley Smith for about two weeks last spring.