Rupert Murdoch: The four previous marriages of the media mogul

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has tied the knot a total of four times, with his most recent marriage ending two years ago.

He stepped down last year as chairman of his Fox and News Corp businesses after almost seven decades at the helm of his sprawling media empire.

Mr Murdoch’s son Lachlan Murdoch has since taken over, but the Australia-born businessman continues to serve as chairman emeritus of both companies.

The 92-year-old is set to marry retired Russian molecular biologist Elena Zhukova, 67, in June at the Moraga Estate vineyard in California, according to reports.

Here is a round-up of his previous wives:

Patricia Booker

Mr Murdoch’s first wife was flight attendant Patricia Booker, with whom he had a daughter, Prudence.

Anna Torv

His second wife was the Scottish journalist and author Anna Torv, with whom he had three children, Elisabeth Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch and James Murdoch, and married in 1967.

In 1970, Muriel McKay, the 56-year-old wife of Alick McKay, a News Corp executive, was kidnapped after being mistaken for Ms Torv.

Two brothers were arrested on a pig farm in Essex and Ms McKay’s body was never found.

Following his marriage ending in 1999, Mr Murdoch reportedly paid out 1.7 billion dollars (£1.08 billion) in a divorce settlement.

Shortly after the divorce, she married William Mann before he died more than a decade later.

Her third husband is Ashton dePeyster.

Wendi Deng

As an ambitious teenager, Wendi Deng reportedly moved to the US to study in California in 1988 after being born to strict parents in mainland China.

She later graduated from the Yale School of Management, and reportedly met Mr Murdoch after moving to Hong Kong to work in a junior position at Star Television, which is owned by News Corp.

Ms Deng was introduced to her husband at a Hong Kong cocktail party in 1997, and she stepped down from her then post of vice-president of Star TV before the wedding.

They married in June 1999 on board the mogul’s private yacht, Morning Glory, amid tight security.

Around 80 people attended the private New York service, at which the Welsh singer Charlotte Church performed.

Ms Deng is the co-founder of the film production company Big Feet Productions, which produced Snow Flower And The Secret Fan, and she was also involved in the Netflix documentary Sky Ladder: The Art Of Cai Guo-Qiang.

Her first child with Mr Murdoch, Grace, was born in late 2001, and she gave birth to the couple’s second, Chloe, in the summer of 2003.

During a July 2011 parliamentary hearing into phone hacking by News Corp newspapers, she leapt into the spotlight when she jumped up to protect her husband from a protester who was throwing a cream pie at him.

They split in June 2013.

Jerry Hall

Ms Hall, one of four daughters, moved to Paris to pursue her modelling career aged just 16.

She then famously met The Rolling Stones’ frontman, Sir Mick Jagger.

The couple wed in 1990 in Bali, but their marriage was later disputed since it was not properly conducted, and was subsequently shown to be invalid.

The pair had four children together, but parted after 23 years.

Hall married Mr Murdoch at Spencer House in London in 2016.

This is Mr Murdoch’s most recent divorce, which was finalised in August 2022, following a six-year marriage.

It was reported by Vanity Fair that Ms Hall was banned from contacting HBO hit series Succession in an effort to stop her providing them with ideas for storylines.

Scottish actor Brian Cox played foul-mouthed global media tycoon and family patriarch Logan Roy, in the show which aired for four seasons.