The New York Times made a big deal out of the fact that 93 year-old Murdoch wore sneakers with his wedding suits but had barely a word about the Russian oligarch-connected world of the bride.
This is how The New York Times began its article about Murdoch’s June 1 marriage:
As a rule of thumb, sneakers with suits are a terrible idea. Unless, perhaps, you are Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul who — seeming to chase Elizabeth Taylor’s lifetime tally of eight marriages — married his fifth wife on Saturday in a ceremony at his Tuscan-style vineyard in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Mr. Murdoch’s new bride, Elena Zhukova, 67, is a retired molecular biologist who was previously married to Alexander Zhukov, the billionaire Russian energy investor. She was dressed for the occasion in an ankle-length off-white cocktail dress with a squared-off portrait neck and matching pumps.
OK, it’s an interesting detail that Murdoch wore sneakers but the 92 year-old may well have foot problems that prevented him from wearing other shoes.
What’s far more interesting to me is who the bride is. The Washington Post has a tantalizing hint:
There are few details about Zhukova’s history, though multiple reports suggest that she is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, the ex-wife of former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, who has been described as a well-connected Russian oligarch.
The New York Times did a deep dive into daughter Dasha Zhukova in March, 2023. The article is about Dasha Zhukova’s “artful rise” into the top echelons of the art world. Along the way, it gives a disturbing glimpse into how Russian oligarchs have embedded themselves into western glitterati.
It includes this suprising nugget:
As the divorce unfolded, Ms. [Dasha] Zhukova and her children temporarily moved into an unoccupied East 64th Street mansion owned by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska; in the spring of 2018 the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Mr. Deripaska, and he left the country.
In January, 2023, The Times reported this about Oleg Deripaska, the guy who hosted Murdoch’s now daughter-in-law:
Mr. Deripaska, an aluminum magnate, had been on the radar of U.S. authorities for years and remains under sanctions. He was known to be an ally of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. The Treasury Department had reported that he had ties to organized crime.
“Deripaska is a well-known man to anybody who follows Russia,” said Daniel Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland and a former State Department official who helped craft sanctions against Russia. “I wouldn’t have accepted a luncheon invitation from the guy,” he added.
Deripaska also employed former Trump campaign-manager, the convicted and pardoned-by-Trump Paul Manafort. “Before signing up with Donald Trump, former campaign manager Paul Manafort secretly worked for a Russian billionaire with a plan to ‘greatly benefit the Putin Government,’” was how AP summarized Manafort’s employment with Deripaska. Recently, Manafort was reportedly advising the 2024 Trump campaign until the media got wind and he reportedly backed off to work on “the sidelines.”
One other thing: Murdoch and his fifth bride were reportedly introduced by his third wife, Wendi Deng. Questions have arisen as to whether Deng is a Chinese asset. She is also close friends with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and reportedly set the two up.
None of this points to any wrongdoing by the newest Mrs. Murdoch, her daughter, Deng, Kushner or Ivanka Trump. It does show you how deeply rich Russians have penetrated the highest levels of U.S. elites. It also helps explain why guys like Tucker Carlson, and convicted felon Donald Trump (whose $100 million legal bills are rising) love them so much. Murdoch, too.
