Janet Jackson is worth an estimated $250 million. Her husband, the Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana, tops that at $1 billion.
While their divorce promises to be a deeply complex transaction, there is one certainty: it will involve a big number, and thus join the pantheon of costliest celebrity divorces ever:
$92 million: Madonna. Madonna allegedly had to pay a nearly nine-figure sum to Guy Ritchie in 2008. Since then, Ritchie has directed three movies that have earned a combined $440 million worldwide.
$100 million: Steven Spielberg. Granted, Spielberg is worth a lot more now than he was in 1989, but Amy Irving’s settlement is still an impressive haul. This case has achieved a particular notoriety because allegedly a judge said the acclaimed director’s prenup wouldn’t hold up in court because it was written on a napkin.
$100+ million: Tiger Woods. While the exact sum hasn’t been revealed, it’s believed Woods will pay Elin Nordegren at least $100 million. It’s a complex settlement, including Nordegren being set up as the issuer of a $54.5 million mortgage on Tiger’s home. (In short: he needed to make payments on it or the property went to his ex.) It should be noted the amount is nowhere near the $750 million figure thrown around the gossip glossies in 2010.
$150 million: Neil Diamond. Diamond’s 1994 split from Marcia Murphey ended a marriage of 25 years and revealed that “Sweet Caroline” generated some significant royalties.
$168 million: Michael Jordan. Juanita Vanoy Jordan’s 2006 settlement hasn’t stopped His Airness from owning the Charlotte Hornets and becoming a billionaire.
$425 million: Mel Gibson. Gibson’s marriage of 31 years to Robyn Denise Moore ended in 2011 with her receiving half of his $850 million fortune. Gibson’s lawyers had greater success in dealing with an ex-girlfriend and baby mama: In 2016, they got $500,000 of the $750,000 Gibson agreed to pay Oksana Grigorieva canceled after she violated a confidentiality agreement by discussing his alleged domestic abuse during a Howard Stern interview.
The next big divorces? Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a combined net worth of an estimated $400 million to settle. That’s roughly the same as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver (he’s worth an estimated $300 while she’s at $100). The two, however, have declined to end their marriage, even after more than five years separated and both establishing relationships with other people.
As Janet Jackson would sing, that’s the way love goes.
—Sean Cunningham for RealClearLife
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