A Divorce Can Either Leave You Broke Or Make You Really Wealthy
Most expensive divorces in the world
The divorce (or the dissolution of marriage) is the final termination of a marital union, cancelling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties.
In today’s world, a divorce can either make you very rich or leave your pockets empty. That’s why for our world’s billionaires and millionaires the words “prenuptial agreement” are perhaps the most useful invention, especially in situations when there is a large discrepancy between the spouse’s fortunes and in situations where rich people often fail to spend their entire lives with only one person. Although the divorce process can be painful, having to split custodies of children, estates, etc.; the terms of the “prenup” can really sweeten this ordeal. Otherwise, the divorce is a difficult process in which each party is struggling to get more or, if necessary, pay the other party less. And when the assets are worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, the battle becomes even tighter.
Most procedures are completed some time after the divorce has been finalized. This means the battle for custody, splitting estates and companies or company shares and any other assets the two might have. In most divorce cases, custody of the children is granted to both parents – joint custody – which means, the children will spend a predetermined period of time with one parent, and another with the other parent. And “compensations” are even higher – the most expensive divorce was that of Anna and Rupert Murdoch, media mogul who has paid his former wife a staggering $ 1.7 billion, to be married, not even a month later, to another woman.
Media giant Rupert Murdoch married Anna in the ’60s and shared their lives together for 32 years until 1998, when they parted amicably. The divorce was finalized in June 1999, when Anna received 1.7 billion dollars and 17 days later, Rupert married Wendi Deng Murdoch.
Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone, 1.2 billion dollars: The divorce was finalized in 2009 and it was initially believed that the billionaire Bernie Ecclestone paid his wife $4 billion. The figure was never made public, but the sum seems to be rather around 1.2 billion dollars.
Adnan and Soraya Khashoggi, 874 million dollars: Saudi businessman Adnan, has built most of the wealth by trafficking weapons to the Saudi royal family, which was founded by the Swiss company that owns the Triad banks, hotels and real estate worldwide. He married Soraya in 1961 and they filed for divorce in 1982, after which the ex-wife left with $874 million.
Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, 750 million dollars: Accused of infidelity, the famous golfer Tiger Woods will pay as part of the deal $750 million dollars to the Swedish model Elin Nordegren, who agreed not to talk publicly about Woods’ escapades with 19 women. She will preserve their vacation home in Florida, the apartment in Stockholm and the Swedish farm on the island.
Craig and Wendy McCaw, 460 mil. dollars: Craig McCaw’s fortune was made after he turned a run-down TV-station into a very profitable business, which he later sold for $755 million. But his real success came once he sold mobile phone licenses to AT&T for $12 billion. Once their divorce was finalized, Wendy however, received a payment of only $460 million.
Robert and Sheila Johnson, the 400 million dollars: BET Cofounder and first U.S. African-American billionaire Robert Johnson has split with his wife in 2000, Sheila received from sharing the amount of 400 million dollars. Five years later, Mrs. Johnson was formerly married to William Newman Jr., the judge who gave sentence in divorce.
Roman and Irina Abramovich, $ 300 million: There were a lot of rumors about the divorce of Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire who owns Chelsea, and his wife Irina. It has long been speculated that it would be the third most expensive divorce, the amount being received by Irina reaching $1 billion. In reality, the separation ended with Roman Abramovich paying a sum of only 300 million dollars.
Michael and Maya Polsky, 184 million dollars: Married in 1975 in Ukraine and settled in the U.S. a year later, with only one suitcase with clothes and $ 500, Michael and his ex-wife Maya Polskty began the divorce procedures in 2003, which was finalized three years later. The judge in Chicago granted the win to Maya Polsky, which received $184 million.
John ‘Jack’ Welch and Jane Beasley, 180 million dollars: The former president and CEO of General Electric, divorced Jane Beasley in 2003 after 14 years of marriage. Although initially the two had signed a prenuptial agreement, it expired in 1999, thus forcing Welch to pay his former wife the sum of $180 million.
Michael and Juanita Jordan, 168 million dollars: The divorce of Michael and Juanita Jordan is considered among the most expensive celebrity divorce. Former basketball player at the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, married Juanita Vanoy in 1989. After 18 years of marriage, in 2007, Michael paid $168 million to Juanita, the former Mrs. Jordan.
Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphey, 150 million dollars: Neil met Marcia when he was still married to his first wife. They married in 1971, but 25 years later, the singer was accused of infidelity and Marcia Murphey soon filed for divorce. The exact way they shared their fortune is unknown, but Diamond said at one point that he paid the former wife $150 million.
Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison, 118 million dollars: In the 20 years of marriage, Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison have been separated for four years, during which the actor was involved in a relationship with Calista Flockhart, the actress from the series Ally McBeal television. Humiliated, Melissa filed for divorce in 2004, receiving $118 million.
Greg Norman and Laura Andrassy, 103 million dollars: After 25 years of marriage, the Australian golf palyer Greg Norman left his wife in 2006 for the tennis player Chris Evert. This decision cost him $103 million, although the second marriage did not last more than 15 months.
Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving, 100 million dollars: The renowned movie director of films like Jurassic Park, ET, Jaws (JAWS) or Saving Private Ryan was married to Amy Irving only for a few years. Spielberg and Irving met in 1984 and in 1988 the divorce was already pronounced, the former Mrs. Spielberg getting the partition $100 million, which represented half of his fortune at that time.
