Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul, has been spotted in public for the first time since he left News Corporation three weeks ago, photographed arriving at an airport to board a private jet with former Russian scientist Elena Zhukova.

Ms Zhukova, 66, is the mother of Dasha Zhukova, who was married to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich until 2018. Ms Zhukova has long been rumoured to be in a relationship with Mr Murdoch, who handed the chairmanship of his media conglomerate to his son, Lachlan Murdoch, at the company’s annual meeting last month.