Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 93, marries fifth wife Elena Zhukova at his Bel Air vineyard in California

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch tied the knot for the fifth time on Saturday, June 1, according to British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, which is owned by Murdoch. 

The Sun released photos of the 93-year-old billionaire alongside his 67-year-old wife, Elena Zhukova, who is a retired molecular biologist. The wedding ceremony took place at Murdoch's vineyard in Bel-Air, California.

Rupert Murdoch marries for the fifth time 

Rupert Murdoch, who left the boards of Fox and News Corporation last year, married Elena Zhukova at Moraga, his Tuscan-style vineyard estate nestled in the hills of Los Angeles' Bel Air area.

The couple exchanged vows beneath the clear sky. Murdoch, 93, wore a dark suit with sneakers, while Zhukova, 67, carried a bouquet of white flowers and wore an ankle-length, off-the-shoulder white dress with a square neckline that was reportedly made by London-based designer Emilia Wicks.

The couple had met through Murdoch’s third wife, Wendi Deng, according to The New York Times, which first reported their relationship last summer. They have been together since then.

Earlier this year in March, Murdoch revealed his engagement to Zhukova, just days ahead of his 93rd birthday. 

Retired molecular biologist Zhukova left Moscow for the United States in 1991, a few months before the fall of the Soviet Union. Millionaire energy investor Alexander Zhukov was her former spouse.

Before getting hitched to Zhukova, Murdoch was engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a conservative radio personality and retired dental hygienist. Murdoch had proposed to Smith in the spring of last year, but the engagement was called off in less than a month.

Rupert Murdoch's previous marriages 

Murdoch's first marriage took place in 1956. He got married to Patricia Booker, a model and former flight attendant. The marriage did not work out and the couple divorced in 1967. Murdoch and Booker have a daughter, Prudence.

In the same year, Murdoch married Anna Maria Torv. His second wife worked as a journalist for one of his Australian newspapers. This marriage lasted for 32 years. The couple share three children: James, Lachlan, and Elisabeth.

Following the dissolution of their marriage in 1999, Murdoch tied the knot with Wendi Deng, a Chinese-born television executive. They had two daughters, Grace and Chloe. But Murdoch parted ways with his third wife in 2013.

The same year, the media mogul met Jerry Hall, who is a model, actress and one of Mick Jagger’s former wives. They married in 2016 and had no children together before divorcing in 2022.

Additionally, Moraga, the wedding venue, is where Murdoch first hatched his 2019 deal to sell most of Fox’s movie studio, FX and National Geographic to Disney. He bought the estate in 2013 for a reported $29.5 million.