One particular point prominently jumps out in a newspaper’s examination of some of the most expensive and high-asset divorce settlements in history.
That is this: If you are a would-be business tycoon and have a goal of securing an immense amount of wealth, sign a prenuptial agreement with your partner before that outcome is realized.
To illustrate, consider that Donald Trump had a premarital contract executed when he wed Marla Maples. When they divorced, she got $1 million. He also executed a prenup in 1977 that worked in his favor in his 1992 divorce from Ivana Trump. Although his estimated wealth at the time of the divorce was $1.6 billion, the prenuptial contract limited Ivana’s settlement to a maximum of $25 million.
Contrast that with the divorce settlement of media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his ex-wife Anna in 1999, following 32 years of marriage. Lacking a premarital agreement, Murdoch paid out $1.7 billion in that settlement.
Many other high-asset divorces reflect an outcome closer to Murdoch’s than they do to the settlements secured by Trump.
Take Saudi businessman and one-time arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, for instance. The estimated settlement amount in his 1982 divorce was $874 million.
Las Vegan titan and real estate visionary Stephen Wynn can identify with such an amount. The cost of his divorce in 2009? Seven-hundred forty million dollars.
Robert Johnson, founder of the Black Entertainment Television network, paid out about $400 million to his ex-wife in a 2000 divorce settlement. Three years later, she married the judge that oversaw their divorce case.
One noteworthy point made by the Washington Times is that, despite all the media ink splashed on celebrity — read movie actor, athlete and music star — divorces, the loftiest settlement numbers almost exclusively relate to the divorces of business moguls and entrepreneurs.
If you seek sound and diligent representation in a high-asset divorce matter, or have any questions regarding the division of marital assets, contact an experienced Georgia divorce attorney.
Source: Washington Times, “World’s most expensive divorces all mean business,” Myra Fleischer, June 19, 2012
