The 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces
Following pop culture has become synonymous with reading the news every day. The only difference is, now we are so connected, we get continuous updates all day long. People love celebrities, and people love drama. So what does the general public love more than celebrities getting married?
That's right; celebrities getting divorced! Maybe that's why the celebrity divorce rate is twice as much as the general population?
Celebrity divorces are usually packed with drama, but perhaps the thing that drives the most curiosity is the price tag attached. One of the first questions people ask when news of a celebrity divorce comes out is whether or not a prenuptial agreement was signed.
Either way, the divorce is sure to carry a high price tag, but one without a prenup is far more entertaining for the general public. Let's not sugar coat anything, some of us are heartbroken by the divorce, but others are only curious about how much the settlement is worth.
Because social media and technology allow the world to stay so connected, the general public feels as though they are entitled to knowing all the details of a celebrity's life when they look at their Instagram page or on Google.
The world hasn't always been so connected, though. Before social media and the internet, learning about celebrity lives was tough. People had to pray someone would leak information on a couple's divorce. Some of the couples listed below divorced before the age of social media. Still, the information still managed to find its way into the public domain.
Below are the top ten more expensive celebrity divorces of all time:
10. Madonna and Guy Ritchie
How long was the marriage: Eight years
How much was the settlement: $75 and $92 million
The story: Madonna and Guy Ritchie might be at the end of our list, but according to the Rolling Stone, their divorce set the record for the highest divorce settlement in the history of the U.K.
The couple married in 2000 and had two kids before their split in 2008.
Ritchie is reported to have said, "I enjoyed my first marriage. It's definitely not something I regret. The experience was ultimately very positive. I love the kids that came out of it, and I could see no other route to take. But you move on, don't you? You're right, I stepped into a soap opera, and I lived in it for quite a long period of my life. I'll probably be more eloquent on it ten years from now."
Despite the divorce, the two share custody of their children, David and Rocco. Their divorce was settled amicably, and Guy Ritchie went on to have one more son with girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley.
9. Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison
How long was the marriage: 17 years
How much was the settlement: $90 million
The story: Ford had two children from a previous marriage, but for Melissa Mathison, it was her first marriage. It was rumored the two were dating before Ford was divorced, but nothing was ever confirmed. It wasn't long after his divorce, though, that he and Mathison made it official.
Ford stated that he wasn't even sure if he ever proposed to Mathison. That marriage was just part of the continuum of the relationship.
The two managed to have two children together, Malcolm and Georgia Ford. Harrison Ford paid out the $90 million in 2004 after reports of him seeing a younger woman.
Mathison was also entitled to a percentage of the royalties from Indiana Jones and Star Wars. These were two movies Ford starred in during their marriage.
Mathison died from cancer in 2015, leaving behind her two children and $22 million.
8. Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving
How long was the marriage: Four years
How much was the settlement: $100 million
The story: If anyone can tell you the importance of having an attorney present when you write up a prenuptial agreement, it is Steven Spielberg. The two wrote up an informal prenup on the backside of a napkin. Just four years later, Amy Irving claimed she wasn't represented by an attorney when the prenup was created. She then motioned for the agreement to be thrown out.
Irving won the case and was granted 50% of all Spielberg's earnings during their four years together. This quickly added up to a cool $100 mill, according to Forbes.
They had a son together, Max, and settled for joint custody. Max was to spend one year with his dad, and the next year with his mom, and so on.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Irving states,
His friends all say, Oh, you're the luckiest kid on Earth because Steven Spielberg's your dad, but he doesn't feel the luckiest kid on Earth. He's from a divorced family, and it's just not what a kid dreams of. The other stuff doesn't matter; he'd much rather have his parents together.
7. Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren
How long was the marriage: Six years
How much was the settlement: Roughly $110 million
The story: After the news of Tiger Woods' multiple affairs became public, Elin Nordegren's first response was that she wanted to save her marriage. In the end, though, the damage was too great, and the union could not be saved.
Tiger Woods later stated at a press conference that the divorce was a "sad time."
"You know, it's a sad time in our lives," he said. "And we're looking forward in our lives and how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the important thing," reported CBS news soon after the divorce was filed.
They have two kids together, Charlie and Sam Woods. Woods and Nordegren have always tried to remain amicable for their children and share custody. They have even announced they are splitting time while self-isolating during the Coronavirus.
6. Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphey
How long was the marriage: 25 years
How much was the settlement: Roughly $150 million
The story: Murphy filed for divorce in 1994, amidst the rumors of Diamond's infidelity. It was reported in Forbes that Diamond's $300 million estates were divided up, and Murphy received half.
Diamond was famously quoted at the time for saying, "I am happy to do it," Diamond is famously quoted as saying at the time. "She's been with me through thick and thin. She deserves half my fortune. I wish her all the happiness $150 million can bring."
It was later reported that Murphy didn't receive quite the $150 million as previously stated. Diamond later said, "she got enough to live on for the rest of her life."
The two have two sons together, Jesse and Micah. It's rumored that the divorce wasn't very pleasant and definitely wasn't a mutual decision. That is why many rumors have been spread in regards to the amount te settlement was worth.
5. Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy
How long was the marriage: 17 years
How much was the settlement: Roughly $168 million
The story: The couple met in 1985 at a restaurant in Chicago after a Bulls game. Vanoy was a loan officer, and Jordan was already a star player for the Bulls.
Michael Jordan said in a 1992 biography that he immediately liked Vanoy because he was the one that noticed her. Most women came waltzing up to Jordan, so he liked that she was different.
Jordan and Vanoy had their three children, Jeffrey, Marques, and Jasmine. It was then that they ultimately decided to get married in a little Las Vegas chapel at 3:30 in the morning.
Juanita Vanoy filed for divorce in 2002, stating the two had irreconcilable differences". However, the couple seemed to work things out for the next few years. The divorce was finalized in 2006. It shocked many of those close to the family. Mainly because just days beforehand, the two were spotted spending time together at their son's basketball game.
4. Robert Johnson and Sheila Crump
How long was the marriage: 33 years
How much was the settlement: $400 million
The story: Robert Johnson and Sheila Crump married in 1969 and built their fortune together in co-founding BET, which later sold for $3 billion to Viacom, according to Fortune.
The marriage ended because of an alleged affair between Robert and at least one other woman. Soon after the cheating rumors floated to the surface, Robert Johnson fired his wife from BET in 1999. The marriage ended three years later.
They had two kids together, Brett and Paige Johnson. Robert went on to have a girlfriend 33 years his junior, and Sheila married the judge that presided over her divorce, William T. Newman.
3. Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore
How long was the marriage: 26 years
How much was the settlement: $425 million
The story: At the time, Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore's divorce was the most expensive settlement to date, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. The entire acting community was surprised when Moore filed for divorce in 2009. They had seven children together, and after so many years of marriage, the world couldn't picture them apart.
Robyn Moore came out publicly, stating they had "irreconcilable differences." It wasn't until Gibson's known girlfriend had their daughter later that year that the world started to understand exactly what those differences were.
The couple had a prenuptial agreement that entitled Moore to half of their assets, which totaled to $425 million. Moore and Gibson split custody of their only minor child, Thomas. A year later, Gibson and his girlfriend file restraining orders against one another, and Gibson ended up having a ninth child in 2017.
2. Rupert Murdoch and Anna Torv
How long was the marriage: 32 years
How much was the settlement: 1.7 billion
The story: Rupert Murdoch seemingly was desperate to get out of his marriage with Anna Torv. ABC News reported that of the $1.7 billion in assets, Torv got $110 million in cash, which was the most expensive divorce settlement to date. Rupert was the one that filed for divorce.
They settled quickly. He showed no interest in reconciliation whatsoever, according to Torv, in 2001 for Australian Women's Weekly. Not to mention the fact that Rupert was remarried just 17 days later.
The New Yorker reported that the split could have been a result of Torv asking Murdoch to retire from his esteemed News Corp. and for Rupert, this simply wasn't an option.
This may have been Rupert's second marriage, but no one saw this divorce coming. The two had three children together, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James. Rupert had one kid from a previous marriage and had one more with third wife, Wendi Deng.
1. Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos
How long was the marriage: 25 years
How much was the settlement: Roughly $68 billion
The story: The couple is native to the state of Washington, which just so happens to be one of the nine states that entitles residents to a 50/50 split of marital assets.
Lucky for MacKenzie, her now-former husband, Jeff is the CEO of Amazon and the richest person in the world, so she was entitled to half of all marital assets. All of which totaled up to approximately $68 billion. this total made the settlement a record high for the most expensive divorce settlement in history.
Jeff Bezos took to Twitter to announce in a lengthy post, the couple's amicable decision to part ways after a quarter of a century.
According to NBC News, the Bezos' also announced on Twitter, "After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends."
The two have remained friends and still do things as a family for their four adopted children.
Moral of the story, whether you sign a prenup or not, it always pays to be married to a celebrity -- or the CEO of Amazon.
Whether you follow pop culture or not, the world has always been curious to know just how much the rich and famous have to pay out in their divorces. It’s safe to say the world won’t see a settlement higher than the Bezos’ for many years to come.
