Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch tied the knot for the fifth time Saturday afternoon at 93-years-old to retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, according to multiple reports.
The Fox and News Corp chairman announced his engagement to Zhukova, 67, in March as the couple had been dating for several months prior. The two exchanged vows at Murdoch’s Moraga winery in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, with close family and friends nearby, according to Fox News.
Photos from the ceremony were released by News Corp. displaying the couple on his Mediterranean-inspired property and Zhukova reportedly dressed by London-based designer Emilia Wickstead, who had worked with both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, according to the Los Angeles Times. Zhukova was previously married to billionaire energy investor and Russian politician Alexander Zhukov, sharing a daughter, Dasha, who was formerly married to billionaire Roman Abramovich, according to CBS News. (RELATED: Meet The Man Slated To Take Over The Fox News Empire)
Prior to his engagement to Zhukova, just a little over a year ago Murdoch had broken off his two-week engagement with former San Francisco police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith. The media tycoon’s first marriage was in 1956 to flight attendant Patricia Booker, in which they share a daughter, Prudence, before divorcing nearly a decade later.
Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendi Deng attend Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 8, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by L. Busacca/WireImage)
Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall seen leaving St Brides Church after their wedding on March 5, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)
(L-R) Clive Carr, Rupert Murdoch and his wife Anna, and William Carr, during a meeting of ‘News of the World’ shareholders in London, 2nd January 1969. (Photo by Michael Webb/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The same year Murdoch divorced Booker, he married Scottish journalist Anna Torv and shares three children — Elisabeth, James and Lachlan — before separating roughly three decades later. By 1999, Murdoch was in his third marriage to entrepreneur Wendi Deng, sharing two daughters, Grace and Chloe, before divorcing in 2013. Just three years later in 2016, Murdoch’s last marriage was to model Jerry Hall, which ended by 2022.
Less than a year ago, Murdoch announced he would step down from Fox Corp. and News Corp. companies, revealing that his oldest son, Lachlan, would be his successor as the sole chair of News Corp. along with continuing his position as executive chair and CEO of Fox Corporation.
“For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,” Murdoch’s statement read. “I am truly proud of what we have achieved collectively through the decades, and I owe much to my colleagues, whose contributions to our success have sometimes been unseen outside the company but are deeply appreciated by me.”
