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Tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 92, has started dating a beautiful retired scientist – after meeting her through his third wife Wendi Deng.
The two sail the Mediterranean in the legendary superyacht Christina O which he rented and which today sits on the coast of Corfu.
Murdoch suffered disappointment and drama this spring when his engagement to former police chaplain and vineyard owner Ann Lesley Smith was called off just two weeks after it was announced.
He and Ms Smith were pictured boarding a private jet with his fiancée wearing a massive $2million diamond ring just days before the proposed summer wedding was called off.
Reports suggest his “outspoken evangelical views” may have been a factor. It was also revealed that Ms Smith had a legal dispute with her late husband’s children over his inheritance.
But, undeterred, the media mogul is now in the “early stages” of a romance with 66-year-old Elena Zhukova.
Tycoon Rupert Murdoch, 92, started dating handsome retired scientist Elena Zhukova, 66 – after meeting her through his third wife Wendi Deng
Murdoch is now in the “early stages” of a romance with 66-year-old Elena Zhukova (center with daughter Dasha right). She is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, the beautiful Russian socialite who is famous for her marriage to Russian oligarch and former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.
She is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, the beautiful Russian socialite who is famous for her marriage to Russian oligarch and former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.
Wendi Deng, Dasha and Murdoch’s third wife, are great friends in New York and that seems to be the connection. “They met through Wendi and Dasha,” a source said.
Ms. Zhukova is a twice-divorced molecular biologist and diabetes specialist. She lived in America for more than three decades after leaving Russia in 1991 with her daughter.
Before retiring, she worked at UCLA’s Medical Research Unit. Sources say she spends a lot of time with her grandchildren from Dasha and Roman
Dasha, 42, divorced Abramovich in 2019 and her settlement included a four-story house in Manhattan. She is now married to Stavros Niarchos, the billionaire heir to the maritime dynasty.
Murdoch and Ms Zhukova senior are apparently cruising the Mediterranean on a family summer vacation.
Murdoch was spotted in Positano last month having lunch at Da Adolfo restaurant. Reports suggest his son Lachlan and wife Sarah have joined him, sailing their new $150million yacht Sarissa.
Murdoch’s daughter, Elisabeth, and her husband, Keith Tyson, were also seen.
The Christina O launched in 1943 was converted from a frigate by legendary Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. The boat, featured last year in the Oscar-nominated film Triangle of Sadness, is where Onassis wooed Jackie Kennedy and Prince Rainer and Grace Kelly held their wedding reception on board. It is said to cost $767,000 per week to rent.
Murdoch’s daughters by Wendi Deng, Grace and Chloe, are apparently also on board the Christina O. It has 18 rooms.
Murdoch’s son, James, has not been spotted so far. A Vanity Fair report earlier this year suggested Lachlan believed James had leaked episodes of family life to the creators of the hit drama Succession.
Ms Zhukova is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, the beautiful Russian socialite famous for her marriage to Russian oligarch and former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich (pictured together)
Older son Lachlan has run the businesses with Rupert Murdoch since 2014. Younger son James, 50, resigned from News Corp’s board in 2020 after disagreements over editorial policy.
The other children are Prudence, 64, from her first marriage to Patricia Booker, Elisabeth, 54, from her marriage to Anna Torv and Grace, 21, and Chloe, 19, from her third marriage to media executive Wendi Deng.
Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the US, the Sun and the Times in the UK, and book publisher Harper Collins.
His first marriage was to flight attendant Patricia Booker, they had a daughter Patience. Then came a 31-year marriage to journalist Anna Torv. They had Lachlan, James and Elizabeth.
He married media executive Wendi Deng in 1999 and they had daughters Grace and Chloe.
Former fiancée Ann Lesley Smith, who also owns a vineyard, was in conflict with her late husband’s family. They alleged ‘financial abuse of the elderly’ and said she withheld their $1 million that each of her three daughters owed. The case was settled in 2010.