While obtaining a divorce, most people are concerned with how much money they’ll have when they reach a final settlement. Although some couples must struggle to keep their most basic bills paid during this time period, others have far different concerns.
In fact, a growing number of attorneys for America’s multi-millionaire and billionaire couples must conduct in-depth investigations in order to locate missing or cleverly disguised assets and funds.
Hopefully, after reviewing the size of the following settlements, you’ll be glad that your own financial challenges don’t involve any of the same tax concerns and headaches involved with hunting for elusive assets.
Common Settlement Amounts Among the Wealthy
- Jocelyn and Alec Wildestein. When this couple parted ways back in 1999, they owned one of the world’s largest and most valuable private art collections. Jocelyn, known to many for her numerous cosmetic surgery procedures, wound up receiving $2.5 billion. She currently resides in Beverly Hills, California. Her husband passed away in 2008;
- Rupert and Anna Murdoch. As is widely known, Mr. Murdoch made a fortune in numerous media enterprises during his 32-year marriage. He and his wife also raised three children together. When they divorced back in 1999, Mr. Murdoch immediately married Wendi Deng, who was 38 years his junior. His former wife Anna received $2.5 billion under their divorce settlement. Unfortunately for Mr. Murdoch, he and Wendi split up in 2013. Since he apparently required Wendi to sign a strong prenuptial agreement, many assume she received a far smaller amount of money than Anna;
- Sue Ann and Harold Hamm. Before filing for divorce after 24 years of marriage, Mr. Hamm (the CEO of Continental Resources) had an estimated net worth of about $11 billion. In November of 2014, he was ordered to pay his wife a total of $995.5 million. Although he was given an extended period of time to pay that entire sum, it’s interesting to note that an “Oklahoma county judge placed a lien on 20 million shares of Continental stock in order to secure the judgment.” Once that settlement amount was announced, the company’s stock dropped (Hamm owns “about a 68% stake”);
- Mel and Robyn Gibson. For many years, Mr. Gibson was a popular movie star known for such films as “Braveheart” and the “Lethal Weapon” series. However, due to some highly publicized and rather harsh arguments he had with at least one woman (other than his wife), Mr. Gibson suffered a very rapid fall from grace. In 2011, Robyn Gibson was finally awarded $425 million. She and Mel were married for 31 years and raised seven children together;
- Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger. After Arnold engaged in one or more sad affairs, which included a member of the couple’s house staff (and produced a son), this couple finally divorced in 2011. Since a precise figure for their divorce settlement was never announced, the final amount Mrs. Shriver most likely received in their divorce settlement is believed to be somewhere between $250 and $375 million;
- Neil Diamond and Marcie Murphey. Many of us recall this popular singer-songwriter’s biggest hits including “Brooklyn Roads” and “Sweet Caroline.” Based upon Mr. Diamond’s own statements, it’s believed that in 1996, his former wife received a divorce settlement worth $150 million;
- Jamie and Frank McCourt. Known for being “the former owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Mr. McCourt and his wife were married for 30 years when they divorced and reached a settlement back in late 2011. During their divorce proceedings, Mr. McCourt “fired wife Jamie as CEO of the Dodgers.” As part of their settlement, she was required to forfeit all ownership rights in the Dodgers, although she did receive a $131 million
Although these constitute a small number of this country’s largest divorce settlements, they do rank among some of the highest. Of course when you take a look at divorces granted all around the world, you can find even larger settlement amounts. In fact, when Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev divorced his wife Elena, he was ordered to pay her $4.5 billion.
It’s important to note the fact that a number of these women entered their marriages with their own independent wealth – or earned large sums of money while pursuing their own careers.
Minnesota Divorce Lawyers and Attorneys
Contact the law firm today to speak with an experienced divorce attorney in your area. Call for a free consultation at 612-424-0398.
