Love him or hate him; we’ve all been captivated by Rupert Murdoch’s story. From the son of a journalist to a major international media mogul, his journey has been anything but boring.
The same can be said about the man’s multiple marriages; he’s been engaged six times and recently said ‘I Do’ for the fifth time to 67-year-old Russian Elena Zhukova.
Read on to learn more about Rupert Murdoch and his marriages, past and present.
Who is Rupert Murdoch?
Rupert Murdoch is a media mogul and businessman who has been in the news industry since the ‘50s. In the last seven decades, Murdoch has acquired various newspapers in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and the United Kingdom. He was the former Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox and is now the Chairman of Fox Corporation. He is also the Executive Chairman of News Corp.
Why is Rupert Murdoch famous?
After his dad’s death, Rupert Murdoch took over the family business. He turned the newspaper The News into a success and expanded his fledgling news empire by buying out Perth’s Sunday Times.
But this was small fry compared to The Australian, the country’s first-ever national daily newspaper, which Murdoch launched in 1964. Murdoch also acquired The Daily Telegraph and The Sun.
In the 1980s, Murdoch renounced his Aussie citizenship and became a US citizen, mainly so he could own a television station to expand his media empire. Today, Murdoch is the man behind 20th Century Fox, the Fox Broadcasting Company, and thus he has undoubtedly changed the course of media history in a significant way.
Is Rupert Murdoch married?
On June 1st, 2024, Murdoch married his sixth wife Elena Zhukova at the media moguls Californian winery Moraga in the elite Los Angeles suburb of Bel Air.
There is a 26-year age difference between him and his wife, a retired molecular biologist from Russia. It has been reported that the newlyweds met at a gathering hosted by his third wife Wendi Deng less than a year ago.
How many wives has Rupert Murdoch had?
Murdoch has been married four times previously – first to Patricia Booker, second to Anna Murdoch-Mann, third to Wendi Deng, and fourth to Jerry Hall.
While Murdoch proposed to Ann Lesley Smith in March 2023, the couple broke up just a fortnight later. Only a few months later, Rupert met his future fifth wife Elena.
Who is Patricia Booker?
Murdoch’s first wife was a very good friend of Rodney E. Lever, Murdoch’s former right-hand man. Pat was a flight attendant for Ansett Airways and later got into modelling. When the couple married in 1956, Murdoch was only 25 years old and had just started acquiring his first couple of newspapers.
How long were Rupert Murdoch and Patricia Booker married?
Booker and Murdoch stayed together until their divorce in 1967; their marriage lasted 11 years. According to Lever, Pat was unhappy living in then-insular Adelaide, and her isolation contributed to the downfall of their marriage.
Do Rupert Murdoch and Patricia Booker have any kids?
Murdoch has one child from his first marriage, a daughter named Prudence. Her parents divorced when she was 9, and a year later she moved to London with her dad and stepmom. She worked as a journalist for her father’s tabloid News of the World and is now a media executive at News Corporation. Now in her 60s, she goes by the name Prudence MacLeod.
Who is Anna Murdoch Mann?
Born Anna Torv, Anna Maria Murdoch Mann was the second of Rupert Murdoch’s spouses. She is of Scottish and Estonian descent. She was a journalist who worked at The Daily Telegraph, one of Murdoch’s tabloids. Mann is also a published author, having written three books during her marriage to Murdoch: In Her Own Image, Family Business, and Coming to Terms.
How long were Murdoch and Mann married?
Murdoch was interested in Anna even before his divorce was finalised. He married Torv in 1967 – the same year he and Booker officially split. Anna and Rupert stayed together until their divorce in 1999 (meaning they lasted 22 years). As Rupert Murdoch was already a media magnate at this time, Anna Murdoch received $USD 1.7 billion ($AUD 2.42 billion) in the divorce settlement.
Do Rupert Murdoch and Anna Murdoch Mann have any kids?
The couple had three kids together: the eldest, Elisabeth, was born in 1968; the middle child, Lachlan, was born in 1971; and the youngest, James Murdoch, was born in 1972. Just like their father, all three kids are executives and/or board members in their dad’s media empire.
Who is Wendi Deng?
Wendi Murdoch (nee Deng) was Rupert’s third wife. She is a Chinese-American businesswoman, producer, investor, and art collector. Deng was born in 1968, which means that she and Murdoch had a 37-year age gap. At the time that they met, in 1997, Deng was an executive at Hong Kong’s Star TV, one of Murdoch’s assets.
How long were Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng married?
Murdoch and Deng married in 1999, just a few weeks after he divorced Anna, on the businessman’s yacht. They divorced in 2013, with Murdoch initiating the proceedings. Lever said that Murdoch knew the marriage wasn’t going to last and had her sign a prenup to avoid a payout as big as his settlement with Anna. They were together for 14 years.
Do Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng have any kids?
Rupert and Wendi have two daughters, Grace, born in 2001, and Chloe, born in 2003.
Who is Jerry Hall?
Jerry Hall is a former model and actress, having appeared in Tim Burton’s Batman, British TV show Cluedo, and Hotel Babylon. She was also very popular in theatre, performing on the West End and Broadway. Hall’s other famous ex is rockstar Mick Jagger, with whom she has four children.
How long were Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall married?
Murdoch and Hall tied the knot in March 2016. They finalised their divorce in August 2022, meaning the couple was married for 6 years.
Do Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall have any kids?
Rupert and Jerry have no children together.
Who is Ann Lesley Smith?
Ann Lesley Smith is an American journalist. She had her own radio show in the US called, Ann Lesley Live but then left the journalism field to work as a Christian minister doing prison chaplaincy. After a while, Ann then returned to journalism and began working for one of Rupert Murdoch’s publications.
The couple first crossed paths a month after Murdoch had finalised his divorce from Jerry, but ultimately their time together was shortlived and the pair broke up in April 2024.
