The media baron was also briefly engaged to US model and radio host Ann Lesley Smith. (File)
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is getting married to his girlfriend Elena Zhukova, his team announced on Friday. The 92-year-old tycoon will marry the 67-year-old Russian molecular biologist in July at his California wine estate. Ms Zhukova met Rupert Murdoch during a family gathering organised by one of his ex wives.
This is Mr Murdoch’s sixth engagement and fifth wedding. Since 1956, the former chairman of Fox and News Corps has married four women and welcomed six children from the marriages. The media baron was also briefly engaged to US model and radio host Ann Lesley Smith who was 25 years his junior.
Here’s what we know about the many wives of Rupert Murdoch:
1. Patricia Booker
Mr Murdoch met Australian model and flight attendant Patricia Booker in the 1950s when he was 25. The couple married in 1956 and welcomed their daughter Prudence two years later. The couple parted ways after being married for 11 years in 1967. Ms Booker remarried soon after the divorce and not much is known about her life. She died in 1998.
2. Anna Maria Torv
Journalist Anna Maria became Mr Murdoch’s second wife just months after he divorced his first spouse Patricia Booker. The couple was married for 32 years till their divorce in 1999, marking the mogul’s longest marriage.
In the past, Ms Maria has described her ex-husband as “extremely hard, ruthless and determined” and said “the Rupert Murdoch that I loved died a long time ago.”
The couple has three children: 56-year-old Elisabeth, 53-year-old Lachlan and 52-year-old James. While Lachlan took over the reins as chairman of Fox Corp and News Corp last year, all three All have been involved in the family business.
3. Wendi Deng
Mr Murdoch and Wendi Deng got married just two weeks after he finalised his divorce from his second wife in 1999. He met the 30-year old Chinese national in Hong Kong in 1997 and they married in a secret ceremony on his yacht in New York.
Ms Deng is an entrepreneur, movie producer and art collector and shares two daughters — 23-year-old Grace and 21-year-old Chloe — with her ex-husband.
4. Jerry Hall
In 2016, Mr Murdoch was introduced to his fourth wife Jerry Hall, a US model and actor, by one of his sisters. After they married, Mr Murdoch said he felt “like the luckiest AND happiest man in the world” in a tweet.
Before meeting him, Jerry Hall dated Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and has four children with him. She was married to Ms Hall for six years and divorced in 2022.
