Divorce settlements that could dig a hole in celebrity spouse's pockets

Updated on August 16, 2022 23:58 PM by Anna P

The court told Michael Fuchs, the Chrysler Building's co-owner, to pay 300,000 pounds every month. This counts for 3.64 million pounds per year.

This one is the latest multi-million dollar, high-profile divorce case seen in London courts. In the year 2020, Haya, Princess of Dubai, won a divorce settlement of 544 million pounds – the highest in British legal history. With this split, Dubai's ruler – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 72, and 47-year-old Haya Bint al-Hussein, entered the billionaires' divorcee club.

Haya is the youngest among the sheik's six wives, and they have two children – Jalila and Zayed. Apart from huge money, the settlement also includes helicopters, private jets, armored cars, a bunch of bodyguards, a certain amount for annual family vacations, and ponies and pets.

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The ruling was given for two reasons: this was an extraordinary case and the luxurious life children enjoyed when their parents were married.

Bill and Melinda Gates – 73 billion

The philanthropic couple surprised the entire world with the news of their divorce last year on May 3. They were married for almost three decades. According to the court documents, the couple had a private separation agreement, but there was no prenuptial agreement. As they had spent so much of their professional life together with each other, unwinding their assets was quite a complicated task.

They have various properties, including a waterfront mansion in Medina, Washington, a home in Del Mar, California, and many more.

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They run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation is one of the most successful organizations worldwide, which spends around $5 billion to fight disease, poverty, and inequality.

If we divide their total wealth into two equal parts, Mrs. Gates gets about $73 billion. The amount makes it the most expensive divorce ever.

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott - $38 billion

The richest man of 2018, the CEO and founder of Amazon had to pay the price for being so rich while getting a divorce from his wife in 2019.

Bezos had an absolute fortune worth $197 billion and paid his wife a massive $38 billion as a divorce settlement to Ms. Scott. The couple was married for more than two decades.

The founder 75% of the company stakes and 4% stakes of Amazon were given to his former wife.

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Alec and Jocelyn Wildenstein - $3.8 billion

Alec Wildenstein, an art dealer and a French American businessman, divorced Jocelyn in 1999. They both were married for 21 years.

The divorce proceedings awarded Joyce $2.5 billion + 100 million annually for the coming 13years. The total amount is $3.8 billion.

Rupert and Anna Murdoch - $1.7 billion

Rupert, a media tycoon – co-chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp's executive chairman, divorced his wife Anna in 1999. The couple was married for thirty years and had three kids.

He remarried 17 days after their divorce, and she got married again within six months.

Anna got a divorce settlement worth $1.7 billion; this includes $110 million cash as well from Rupert.

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Bill and Sue Gross – $1.3 billion

Bill is popularly known as the Bong King. He was Pacific Investment Management Company’s co-founder and manager at Janus Henderson Global Unconstrained XBond Fund.

The couple had a bitter divorce as they contested on everything – from properties to paintings to pets. This ultimately ended up in a $1.3 billion divorce settlement.

Steve and Elaine Wynn - $1 billion

Steve, a Las Vegas casino big shot, married his wife, Elaine Wynn, two times–the first time from 1963 to 1986 and the second time from 1991 to 2010.

In their second divorce, Mrs. Wynn was awarded an amount of $ 1 billion as a divorce settlement. This included a stock worth $741 million in Wynn Resorts – a company the couple together founded.

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Harold Hamm and Sue Ann Arnall - $975 million

The oil mogul Harold Hamm and his wife Sue Ann Arnal's divorce proceedings concluded in the year 2014 when Hamm wrote a cheque worth $974.8 million to Arnall.

Arnall didn't cash the cheque on an immediate basis but continued her battle in court for a better settlement. However, in the end, she deposited the cheque in 2015.

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As per the Bloomberg Business Index, Hamm is the founder of Continental Resources. He founded it in 1967, and it is worth more than $8.69 billion.

Craig and Wendy McCaw - $460 million

Craig McCaw, the founder of Clearwire and Cellular, divorced his wife, Wendy McCaw, in 1998.

A few years before their divorce, Craig sold his company to AT&T for around $11.5 billion. This helped Wendy earn a divorce settlement of $460 million.

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Adnan and Soraya Khashoggi - $874 million

Adnan Khashoggi is a late Saudi billionaire. He paid $874 million to his ex-wife Soraya Khashoggi as a divorce settlement four decades ago in 1982. At the peak of their influence, the couple was the owner of three yachts, three planes, and 17 houses all over the globe.

Also Read: 10 Most Expensive Divorce Settlements in History

Dmitry and Elena Rybolovlev - $604 million

Dmitry, a Russian billionaire, and his wife Elena decided to part their ways in 2008. The couple was married for 26 years.

After several years, an order was given to Dmitry to pay his ex-wife a huge sum of $4.5 billion, but after negotiations, the sum was reduced to just $604 million.