Rupert Murdoch’s Wife: Meet The Billionaire’s New Wife Elena Zhukova, Plus His Previous Marriages

Find out everything you need to know about Rupert’s current wife, Elena Zhukova, and his past wives here!

Rupert Murdoch has been one of the most influential people in the media industry for decades. The 93-year-old owns countless news outlets across the world with his company News Corp., including many major publications like The New York Post and Wall Street Journal. He’s also the owner of Fox News. The Australia-born media magnate has become a prominent figure through his business deals and his ownership of the various news organizations.

Throughout his career, Rupert has been married four times, and now he’s engaged to be married for the fifth time. In 2023, he announced his engagement to Ann Lesley Smith on March 20. “I was very nervous. I dreaded falling in love – but I knew this would be my last,” Ruper told the New York Post. “It better be. I’m happy,” he added. Rupert also revealed that the couple plans to tie the knot this summer.

The duo split by the end of 2023, calling off their engagement. In May 2024, Rupert married his fifth wife, Elena Zhukova.

Rupert was with his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, for six years, before news broke that the couple was splitting up in June 2022. Find out everything you need to know about Rupert’s current fiancée and all his ex-wives here.

Patricia Booker

Very early on in Rupert’s career, he married Patricia Booker in 1956. Of all of his ex-wives, the least is known about Patricia. She was a flight attendant before getting married to the media tycoon, according to International Business Times. She was also the mother to his first daughter Prudence, 65. The pair divorced in 1967.

Anna Maria Torv

Shortly after the split from Patricia, Rupert had his longest-lasting marriage to journalist Anna Maria Torv, 78, from 1967 to 1999. Rupert had three children with Anna: Elisabeth, 54, Lachlan, 51, and James, 50. Anna and Rupert reportedly met when she was working for The Daily Telegraph, according to Business Insider. Other than her work as a journalist, Anna is also an author who released three books from 1986 to 1992. Anna was also on the board for News Corp, until they separated in 1998.

When the pair divorced, it was reported that Anna took home a rumored $1.7 billion from her ex-husband. After the divorce from Rupert, the writer married William Mann in 1999, whom she was with until his death in 2017. She remarried Ashton dePeyster in 2019.

Wendi Deng

Less than three weeks after finalizing his divorce from Anna, Rupert tied the knot with Wendi Deng, 54, in 1999. The pair had two daughters: Grace, 22, and Chloe, 20. The pair met when she was an executive at the News Corp.-owned Star TV in Hong Kong. Other than her work as a media exec, Wendi has also taken an interest in film, producing the movie Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in 2011 and the documentary Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang in 2016, per IMDb.

The couple divorced in 2013, but it seems like they still maintain a friendship and a good co-parenting relationship. Wendi called the tycoon a “good father” in a 2016 interview with The Independent. “We attend school conferences together. We both make sure they learn Chinese, do well in math. We make decisions together about how they use social media,” she said.

Jerry Hall

After the split from Wendi, Rupert began seeing former model Jerry Hall in 2015. She had begun a modeling career in the 1970s, and had begun acting in the 80s. Long before she and Rupert tied the knot, Jerry was known for her longtime partnership with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, whom she shares four kids with. Rupert and Jerry announced their engagement in January 2016 and tied the knot that March. While not much is known about the pair’s relationship, it was reported that the two were getting divorced in June 2022, anonymous sources told The New York Times. Jerry reportedly filed for divorce on July 1, 2022, citing irreconcilable differences. They finalized their divorce in August 2022.

Ann Lesley Smith

Rupert was engaged to Ann Lesley Smith in 2023. After the news broke, Ann told the New York Post, “I’m a widow 14 years. Like Rupert, my husband was a businessman. Worked for local papers, developed radio and TV stations and helped promote Univision. So I speak Rupert’s language. We share the same beliefs. For us both it’s a gift from God.”

Rupert and Ann reportedly met at a 200-person event at his Moraga vineyard in Bel Air, California, in September 2022. Ann was previously married to late country star Chester Smith.

Later that year, the two broke off their engagement.

Elena Zhukova

Rupert married Elena, a retired molecular biologist, in May 2024. They exchanged vows at his vineyard in Bel-Air, California.