Elena Zhukova, 67, joins a long line of women who have become a fascinating aspect of the all-powerful businessman’s famous life.
As the world awaits the minting of Australian-born Rupert Murdoch’s fifth wife in the shape of Russian-born retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 67, she joins an elite group of women who have become one of the more fascinating aspects of the powerful businessman’s much-storied life.
According to media reports, Zhukova was introduced to Murdoch by his third ex-wife, Wendi Deng, who is friends with Zhukova’s daughter, Dasha. Dasha is a glamorous international socialite and art collector who was married to Russian billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich until 2017. In 1991 Elena Zhukova left the Soviet Union to do research in Houston, taking her 10-year-old daughter with her. Two months later, the Soviet Union collapsed, and she decided to stay in the US.Given Murdoch and Zhukova’s ages, it is unlikely his prospective new wife would impact on his much scrutinised inheritance planning with the arrival of a new heir. However, if his next wife outlives him, she could be set for a handsome windfall, given his history of signing prenuptial agreements.
His first wife was the glamorous Patricia Booker, a flight attendant and department store model from Melbourne. They married in 1956 when Rupert was just 25. They had one child, Prudence, now 66. “Perhaps I was in love with the idea of still being in love with him. But the Rupert I fell in love with could not have behaved this way.”