Murdoch, 93, tied the knot on Saturday with his new wife Elena Zhukova

In Summary

• He was rumored to be dating Zhukova soon after his engagement to ex-police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith was abruptly called off in April 2023.

• His other former spouses are Australian flight attendant Patricia Booker, Scottish-born journalist Anna Mann, and US model and actress Jerry Hall.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has married for a fifth time in a ceremony at his Californian vineyard.

Murdoch, 93, tied the knot on Saturday with his new wife Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired Russian biologist.

He was rumoured to be dating  Zhukova soon after his engagement to ex-police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith was abruptly called off in April 2023.

Australian-born Mr Murdoch, who has six children, is chairman emeritus of News Corporation, which owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Sun and the Times.

He stepped down as chairman of Fox and News Corp last year, leaving his son Lachlan to head both companies.

Murdoch and Zhukova are said to have met at a party hosted by one of his ex-wives, Chinese-born entrepreneur Wendi Deng.

His other former spouses are Australian flight attendant Patricia Booker, Scottish-born journalist Anna Mann, and US model and actress Jerry Hall.

Zhukova was previously married to Russian oil billionaire Alexander Zhukov, while their daughter Dasha – a socialite and businesswoman – was married to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich until 2017.

Rupert Murdoch began his career in Australia in the 1950s – eventually buying the News of the World and the Sun newspapers in the UK in 1969.

He later purchased a number of US publications including the New York Post and Wall Street Journal.

In 1996, he launched Fox News – now the most-watched TV news channel in the US.

Through News Corp, which was founded in 2013, Mr Murdoch remains the owner of hundreds of local, national and international media outlets.

His career has not been without controversy. One of his most damaging moments was the notorious UK phone-hacking scandal that erupted after it emerged that the News of the World.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch marries for fifth time aged 93

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has married for the fifth time at the age of 93, in a ceremony at his vineyard in California.

Mr Murdoch married retired Russian molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 67, on Saturday, after reports of the couple’s engagement first emerged in March.

In wedding photographs released to the media, Mr Murdoch, wearing a black suit with a yellow patterned tie, is smiling next to his new wife.

The Australian-born media magnate, who stood down as chairman of Fox and News Corp last year, had been married four times before.

His engagement to former police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith was called off just two weeks after being announced in April 2023.

Mr Murdoch married his first wife, former flight attendant Patricia Booker, in 1956, and they had one daughter, Prudence.

After their divorce 11 years later, his second marriage to Anna Torv, a trainee journalist he met while she was working on one of his Australian titles, lasted more than 30 years.

At various times, each of their three adult children, Elisabeth, Lachlan and James, appeared to be in line to inherit his media empire.

Mr Murdoch had two more children, daughters Grace and Chloe, by his third wife, Wendi Deng, whom he married in 1999 three weeks after he divorced Anna Torv.

In 2016, Mr Murdoch surprised the world by marrying former model Jerry Hall, an ex-partner of Rolling Stones’ singer Sir Mick Jagger. The marriage lasted six years before they divorced.

Mr Murdoch’s media empire, which started in Australia in the 1950s, included buying the News Of The World and The Sun in 1969, the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and TV channel Fox News, which was launched in 1996.

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