Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is back on track with his love life four months after his abrupt breakup with conservative radio host Ann Lesley Smith. This time the 92-year-old man’s new partner would be Elena Zhukova, a 66-year-old retired Russian scientist.
As confirmed by the Australian edition of The Guardian newspaper, Murdoch met Zhukova during a family event organized by the magnate’s ex-wife, Wendi Deng.
Although her marriage to Deng ended in 2013 after 14 years together, the former couple are on friendly terms. In this case, Deng invited Murdoch to a family event in which their two children together, Chloe and Grace, participated.
Zhukova, twice divorced, has lived in the United States since leaving Russia in 1991 and is a friend of Deng’s.
Sources close to the couple said Murdoch decided to ask Zhukova out on a date after they met at the family party. The relationship between them appears to be serious and has lasted for several weeks, although it is in the early stages.
Other information published in the United States quoted a source as saying that Murdoch “could be in love again”.
The mogul and Zhukova were spotted together on multiple occasions recently, including cruising the Mediterranean on the legendary Christina O yacht, a vessel once owned by Aristotle Onassis and now available for charter.
Zhukova, a noted molecular biologist, was previously married to Russian billionaire Alexander Zhukov. She was also the mother-in-law of the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. His daughter De Ella Darya, 42, nicknamed Dasha, was married for 10 years to the Russian magnate, former owner of Chelsea FC, with whom she had a son and a daughter. She is now married to Stavros Niarchos, son of a Greek shipping billionaire, with whom she has a two-year-old son.
Murdoch had intended to marry former US police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith this summer, but called off their engagement in April just two weeks after proposing. Sources indicate that this decision was due to Smith’s religious differences and evangelical views.
“I was very nervous,” he told the New York Post of his engagement. “I was afraid of falling in love, but I knew that this would be the last. It better be. I’m happy”.
Instead, he has become good friends with Zhukova, who worked as a molecular biologist at the University of California until she retired.
The Australian businessman has rarely gone long without a woman by his side. He began dating Smith a few months after divorcing his fourth wife, model and actress Jerry Hall.
The Murdoch empire has recently faced challenges in the business arena. Fox News reached a staggering $787.5 million settlement with voting equipment company Dominion after a lawsuit, The Guardian commented.
In addition, Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, withdrew his libel suit against the independent Australian website Crikey, alleging that it insinuated an illegal conspiracy with Donald Trump.
The outlet confirmed that in January, Murdoch Sr. decided to scrap a proposal to reunite his News Corp media empire, home of the Times, Sun, Wall Street Journal and The Australian, with Fox, the Fox News broadcaster and its crown jewel.
