They say marriages are made in heaven but how about divorce settlements. Well if you ask us in the banks! Divorces have become a common phenomenon these days and we once in a while we do come across news of our favorite celebrities, business tycoons or even politicians ending their years’ old marriages. But it is not the divorce that hurts them the most it is the divorce settlements that do!
Here are the top 10 most expensive divorce settlements of all times-
1. Alec Wildenstein & Jocelyn Wildenstein, 1999- $3.8 billion
French-American businessman and art dealer Alec Wildenstein divorced his wife of 21 years, Jocelyn in 1991. The costliest divorce ever cost Alec $3.8 billion of his fortune as Jocelyn was awarded $2.5 billion and $100 million for the next 13 years in the settlement.
2. Rupert Murdoch & Anna Torv, 1999 – $1.7 billion
Married for 31 years media mogul Rupert Murdoch and journalist Maria separated in 1998 as what they call an amicable separation. Torv apparently received $1.7 billion in the settlement and went on to marry William Mann only six months after.
3. Bernie Ecclestone & Slavica Radic, 2009 – $1.2 Billion
F1 executive Bernie Ecclestone who is also one of the richest people in the UK divorced Croatian model Slavica Radic in 2009. In the turn of events, it was Radic who paid Ecclestone $1.2 billion in the settlement.
4. Steve & Elaine Wynn, 2010- $1 Billion
Married twice the Las Vegas casino bigwigs Steve and Elaine Wynn finally called it quits in 2010. If reports are to be believed the settlement is estimated to be around $1billion.
5. Harold Hamm & Sue Ann Arnall, 2012- $975 million
Oil Magnate Harold Hamm divorced his wife Sue Ann. He wrote her a cheque of $974.8 million but it wasn’t till 2015 and a multi-year court battle that he finally cashed it.
6. Adnan Khashoggi & Soraya Khashoggi, 1980- $874 million
Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi married Sandra Daly, a British by birth who later converted to Islam and changed her name to Soraya. The couple owned 17 homes, three planes, and three yatches.
They divorced in 1974 in the settlement of $874 million which is equivalent to more than $2 billion today.
7. Dmitry Rybolovlev & Elena Rybolovlev, 2014- $604 million
Elena filed for divorce from her Russian businessman husband Dmitry Rybolovlev citing the reason for serial infidelity. She was later awarded $4.5 billion in the settlement but walked away with only $604 million.
8. Craig McCaw & Wendy McCaw, 1997 – $460 million
Cell phone industry pioneer Craig McCaw and newspaper publisher Wendy McCaw went ahed with an amicable divorce in 1997. The settlement of which exceeded $460 million in Nextel stock as per Forbes.
9. Mel Gibson & Robyn Moore, 2006 – $425 million
The nearly half-a-million-dollar settlement between actor Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore remains the largest Hollywood divorce payout in history.
The settlement totaled half of the actor’s net worth at the time.
10. Bob Johnson and Sheila Crump Johnson, 2002- $400 million
Television moguls Bob Johnson and Sheila Johnson who were married for a good 33 years and also co-founded the network Black Entertainment Television separated ways in 2002.
Interestingly the couple also was the first African-American billionaires and after divorce, Sheila walked ways with $400 million and later married the judge who presided over her divorce.
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