Last summer, Rupert Murdoch set sail on his yacht. He was joined by some of his family and his latest girlfriend, an America-based Russian woman named Elena Zhukova. Zhukova has her own career as a molecular biologist, but she’s rather famously mother to Dasha Zhukova, who was Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s wife for many years. Soon after their summer on the yacht, Rupert formally retired from Fox News Corp. Were the two things connected, or was Murdoch’s retirement more about the enormous $787 million settlement they had to pay to Dominion Voting Systems? Who even knows at this point. Still, Elena Zhukova stuck around and now she’s (possibly) going to be the final boss of Murdoch Wives. Yes, 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch is engaged and planning to marry Elena in June.

Rupert Murdoch decided that at 92, it was time to give up the reins of power at his media empire — but it seems he believes age is no barrier for new love, or a new marriage. On Thursday, Mr. Murdoch’s office said that he planned to marry his girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired molecular biologist whom he started dating in the summer.

The nuptials, scheduled for June, would culminate a topsy-turvy romantic journey to a fifth marriage for Mr. Murdoch, whose personal dramas have frequently made him the focus of the tabloid gossip industry he helped create.

After he divorced Jerry Hall, the model and ex-wife of Mick Jagger, in the summer of 2022, he became engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist, in the spring of 2023. He abruptly broke off that engagement, however, after about two weeks.

He met Ms. Zhukova through his third wife, Wendi Deng, The Daily Mail reported in August, when it broke the news of the relationship. Ms. Zhukova distinguished herself as a molecular biologist studying diabetes, including at the University of California, Los Angeles. But she also has an intriguing pedigree. Having come to the United States from Moscow toward the end of the Soviet Union, her ex-husband, Alexander Zhukov, became a billionaire energy investor (he now resides in London as a British citizen).

Her daughter, Dasha Zhukova, is a prominent philanthropist, entrepreneur and arts patron who, until 2017, was married to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

[From The NY Times]

Given the Zhukova pedigree, I won’t suggest that Elena is a Russian asset, a honey trap sent to entangle and compromise the Murdochs. Please, they don’t need to be honey-trapped to be intimately involved with Russian power elites. I think it’s far more likely that Elena simply wanted the same thing Jerry Hall wanted – companionship with a power player, someone who would treat her well. Still, I can’t believe this 92 year old man has such a chaotic romantic life – divorcing Jerry, breaking off his engagement to a wingnut, now planning a wedding with a well-connected Russian. Man, I wish Succession would come back for another season.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.