Sometimes you just have to admire some people's energy... Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, aged 92, is getting engaged once again. The official wedding is set for this June and is expected to take place at Murdoch's Moraga Vineyards and Estate in California.
Murdoch's office announced on March 7th that the former chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corporation plans to marry his 67-year-old girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, a retired molecular biologist. The couple began dating last summer, and if all goes according to plan, this will mark Murdoch's fifth marriage.
Murdoch and his soon-to-be bride Zhukova were first linked publicly in August last year, and interestingly enough, they met through Murdoch's third wife, Wendi Deng.
Zhu Kewa is a molecular biologist who specializes in diabetes research and has previously worked at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has also gone through two divorces and moved to the United States in 1991 from Russia with her daughter, where she has lived for over thirty years.
Her daughter, Dasha Zhukova, is an art collector and philanthropist, as well as a prominent figure in the American socialite scene. She was previously married to the well-known Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich for a nine-year period.
In 2011, Elena Zhukova (center) and her daughter Dasha Zhukova (right) were photographed together.
Most notably, Dasha Zhukova and Wendi Deng are close friends.
According to insiders, "They (Murdoch and Elena Zhukova) met through Wendi and Dasha." In other words, Wendi Deng facilitated the relationship between her ex-husband and her friend's mother.
In the summer of 2022, Rupert Murdoch split from his model wife Jerry Hall, marking the end of his fourth marriage. He then got engaged to retired dental hygienist Ann Lesley Smith in the spring of 2023, despite previously declaring, "I know this will be my last (marriage/romance)." However, this relationship came to an abrupt end shortly after Murdoch announced the engagement, with him calling off the engagement just two weeks later.
