Mogul in love? Rupert Murdoch yachting getaway sparks new romance buzz

It appears that media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is navigating romantic waters once again after being recently spotted on a romantic yacht getaway with his new rumoured girlfriend, retired scientist Elana Zhukova.

Just months after breaking off his engagement with American Anne Lesley Smith, the 92-year-old News Corp founder has reportedly found love again with 66-year-old Zhukova.

According to the Daily Mail, the pair met through his third wife, Wendi Deng, who is allegedly “great friends” with Zhukova.

Per the publication, Zhukova had left Russia in 1991 with her daughter Dasha Zhikova for the United States, where she lived for 30 years. She became a molecular biologist and diabetes specialist and then held a research position at UCLA.

But just like the media mogul, Zhukova’s marital journey has faced a few bumps, having been married and divorced twice.

Murdoch, on the other hand, has gained notoriety for his string of romances. He recently made headlines for ending his romantic relationship with Smith just two weeks after announcing their engagement.

At the time, Smith told The New York Post it was “a gift from God” that they had met last September during a 200-person event held at Murdoch’s Moraga vineyard in Bel Air, California, with Murdoch adding that they were “both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together”.

Despite Murdoch’s enthusiasm for his upcoming nuptials, his love story was not meant to be after it was revealed that the pair came to a “mutual decision” to call off the engagement.

A friend close to the couple told the Daily Mail that Smith found it difficult to deal with the newfound publicity she had been receiving.

“She just could not cope with being in the public eye. She is very private,” the friend said at the time.

“They sat down and talked yesterday [on Monday] and agreed it was better for them to part.”

Should Murdoch and Zhukova’s relationship lead to marriage, Zhukova would become his fifth wife– a position that Smith had previously hoped to occupy– following his marriages to Patricia Booker, Anna Maria Torv, Wendi Deng, and Jerry Hall whom he divorced just last year citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split.

And though becoming the fifth wife to one of the riches people in the world is newsworthy enough, Mudroch and Zhukova’s nuptials would no doubt be making headlines across the globe as his rumoured new girlfriend has ties to Russian socialites, oligarchs and a Greek shipping dynasty– making her his ultimate power match.