The sixth time’s the charm. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is engaged to retired scientist Elena Zhukova, the sixth engagement for the 92-year-old billionaire.
The wedding, set to be held at his California vineyard in June, would be his fifth, The New York Times reported. It is also his second engagement in the span of a year; he announced in March 2023 that he was engaged to his then-girlfriend, dental hygienist Ann Lesley Smith, but that wedding did not happen.
Murdoch later began dating Zhukova, a 67-year-old retired molecular biologist, the Times reported.
Murdoch stepped down from his role as head of the News Corp. media empire in September. (He was deposed twice last year in separate lawsuits over Fox News’ false claims about voting machines used in the 2020 election.)
He also laid to rest years of speculation about his successor, handing over the reins to his oldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, who is currently chairman of News Corp. and CEO of Fox Corp., the parent company of Fox News. (The HBO show “Succession“ was loosely based on the Murdoch family.)
The billionaire has been married four times. His first wife was Patricia Booker, with whom he had a daughter, Prudence Murdoch. He then married Anna Murdoch Mann in 1967 and had three children with her: Elisabeth, Lachlan and James Murdoch.
Murdoch had two more children with his third wife, Deng, named Grace and Chloe Murdoch.
His fourth marriage was to model Jerry Hall, the former long-term partner of Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger.
