12 Most Expensive Divorce Settlements
Half of all marriages don't end happily ever after, but when celebritiy marriages go badly, they tend to captures headlines and huge settlements
While some couples make sure to involve a prenuptial agreement to protect their assets, some celebrities prefer to keep things simple and old-fashioned — and risky. A prenup can prevent nasty court battles when things turn for the worst. It's a dangerous game with millions of dollars at stake.
A few notorious divorce settlements have reached tens of million, and a few have even broken the billion dollar mark.
From Harrison Ford to Michael Jordan, here is the list of celebrities who had to pay the most hefty divorce settlements to their spouses to end their relationships.
Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison
Settlement cost:
Between $85 million and $118 million
What went down:
While this actor’s and screenwriter’s relationship lasted for 17 years, the pair separated in 2000 and divorced three years later due to speculations that Harrison Ford was unfaithful.
After a long and heated court battle, the couple eventually divorced and cited the reason as “irreconcilable differences” on their divorce papers.
Both requested joint custody of their two children, and Melissa ended up receiving a minimum of $85 million, which included a percentage of royalties from Harrison’s most well-known movies — including the Star Wars and the Indiana Jones series.
Mathison, the screenwriter whose credits include "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial," died in 2015, at age 65, after fighting neuroendocrine cancer.
Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving
Settlement cost:
$100 million
What went down:
After four years of marriage, actress Amy Irving and director Steven Spielberg decided to divorce in 1989. Irving claimed that she felt like she was a politician's wife and was expected to follow certain rules that didn’t comply with her ethos and personality.
Before Spielberg, Irving was living underneath her famous father’s shadow — Jules Irving. She indicated this back-to-back concoction of relationships led her to have an identity crisis, which brought to light the fact that she needed to figure out her own identity — sans Spielberg.
At the end of it all, the marriage ended amicably and Irving was awarded $100 million after the judge refused to accept a prenuptial agreement that was written on a cocktail napkin.
Cindy Silva and Kevin Costner
Settlement Cost:
$80 million
What went down:
While the couple met and married way before Kevin Costner became a big Hollywood hot shot, the passion of their love didn’t last and ended after 16 years of marriage back in 2004.
Even though restauraner Cindy Silva wanted to reconcile the relationship multiple times even after the rumored affairs of Costner came to light, she ended up going home with $80 million dollars.
Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren
Settlement cost:
$100 million
What went down:
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or were born after 2009), you’ve probably heard about this infamous divorce battle.
After crashing his Escalade into his Florida home and fighting with his wife in the same night, Tiger Woods admitted to having an affair with another woman during his six years of marriage with Elin Nordegren.
Soon after, though, more women —around 17 to be exact — came forward stating that they’ve been romantic with the famous golf player. The two eventually divorced in 2010 to which Nordegren was awarded $100 million.
Ron Perelman and Ellen Barkin
Settlement Cost:
Reportedly $20 million
What went down:
Revlon cosmetics owner Ron Perelman and actress Ellen Barkin ended their six-year marriage in 2006 after Barkin received divorce papers and kicked out of their home.
The reason behind the divorce — besides lack of intimacy and potential infidelity on Perelman’s behalf — was reportedly driven by financial reasons. According to New York Magazine, a clause was issued in their prenup that Barkin would be entitled to an increase in alimony.
Ultimately, the divorce ended on a nasty note when Barkin sued Perelman for investments in the production company that they started together, but Perelman countersued, stating that Barkin and her brother had drained the money from the business.
Boris Berezovsky and Galina Besharova
Settlement Cost:
$160 million
What went down:
After divorcing his first wife, Boris Berezovsky married Galina Besharova in 1991. But in 2010, their separation became the largest divorce settlement in London with a $160 million reward due to no prenup.
The reason? “unreasonable behavior.” The hearing took 45 seconds to complete where Besharova claimed they “had worked very hard to reach an amicable settlement.”
Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy
Settlement cost:
$168 million
What went down:
Juanita Vanoy and Michael Jordan got married in Las Vegas in 1989 during Jordan’s second season with the Chicago Bulls, but things turned sour in 2002 when Vanoy filed for divorce.
While the divorce itself seemed amical, the media claimed that the divorce occurred due to Jordan’s constant cheating and drug use.
However, they tried to make things work for the sake of their three children and didn’t finalize the divorce until 2006, where Vanoy was awarded $168 million, the custody of the children, and their Chicago estate.
Charles Edgar Fipke and Marlene Fipke
Settlement Cost:
$200 million
What went down:
A diamond was certainly Charles Edgar Fipke’s best friend. However, Marlene Fipke was not.
Fortunately, for her, she did gain a good chuck on his diamond company’s fortune by receiving $200 million dollars, which incorporated one-fifth of Charles’ business, for $123 million, and a few other assets.
While this divorce occurred right before he sold the company and it was considered the most expensive divorce settlement in Canada at that time, he did say that it was the “Best money I ever spent!”
Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphey
Settlement cost:
$150 million
What went down:
The legendary singer/songwriter was married to Marcia Murphey for 25 years before Murphey filed for divorce.
There were rumors that Neil Diamond was unfaithful towards the end of their relationship. However, Diamond and Murphey both decided to keep the details of their divorce a secret by citing the reason was due to irreconcilable differences.
Nonetheless, Diamond was cordial throughout the whole process and even stated, “She deserves half my fortune. I wish her all the happiness $150 million can bring.”
Robert Johnson and Sheila Crump
Settlement cost:
$400 million
What went down:
After 33 years of marriage, Sheila Crump filed for divorce from Robert Johnson — the founder of BET — due to the fact that Johnson had a three-year affair during the span of their relationship.
However, while the three-year affair was the main cause of the separation, professional differences may have created a hole in their relationship as well. Crump informed her then-husband multiple times that she didn’t like how women were being depicted on the BET network, especially on shows young children were watching.
Johnson ignored her concerns claiming the network wasn’t “about education, it’s about entertainment.”
Two years before the divorce, Johnson sold BET to Viacom for $3 billion, which was why Crump was awarded the $400 million settlement.
Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore
Settlement cost:
$425 million
What went down:
With a total of 31 years of marriage and seven children underneath their belt, Robyn Moore filed for divorce from Mel Gibson in April of 2009 after already being separated since 2006.
The pushing point? When Mel Gibson received a DUI and had a weird anti-semitic episode which he vocalized directly to a police officer in 2006. The split became final around 2011 — two years after news broke that Gibson had fathered a daughter with his then-girlfriend, Okasana Grigorieva — and cost Gibson nearly $425 million dollars.
However, according to TMZ, Moore will be receiving a heavy chunk of Gibson’s retirement money thus resulting around an $800 million settlement. Ouch.
Dmitry Rybolovlev and Elena Rybolovlev
Settlement cost:
$604 Million
What went down:
Handing over $604 million to an ex-lover sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. However, when you’re a Russian billionaire who was originally supposed to provide a $4.5 billion settlement, well, the new amount doesn’t sound too bad.
Unfortunately, for Elena Rybolovlev, she lost out on a lot of money because her ex-husband filed an appeal to which the Swiss courts happily accepted. She did get to keep two Swiss chalets and also took back a $28 million ring.
But what exactly caused the divorce in the first place? Well, Elena Rybolovlev claimed that he cheated with “young conquests with his friends and other oligarchs.” However, Dmitry claimed that he didn’t want the marriage to end and felt that Elena shared similar emotions about the matter. Either way, they ended things and went on their way to live separate lives.
Stewart and Carol Rahr
Settlement Cost:
$250 million
What went down:
After 43 years of marriage, pharma billionaire Stewart Rahr and wife Carol Rahr announced that they were splitting after Stewart was publicly served his divorced papers right in front of his Park Avenue apartment.
Carol decided to file for divorce after Stewart made a scene by cursing at a manger at Nobu Fifty-Seven over arrangements for her surprise birthday party.
Apparently, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back because a source claimed that “Carol always knew what was going on [with his affairs], but recently he seems even more out there and generous with his money. He went out and bought 12 Teslas to give away to his friends, he gave $7 million for prostate cancer research. She fears Stewart is so out of control he could give away all his money, half of which is hers.”
Roman and Irina Abramovich
Settlement Cost:
$300 million
What went down:
Divorce was in the air when Roman Abramovich was rumored to have been spotted with a Russian model named Daria Zhukova while he was married to Irina Abramovich.
After 15 years of marriage and five children, things did not end the way Irina expected.
In the settlement, she ended up with four homes in the United Kingdom and $300 million. Even though that sounds like a lot of money, apparently she received only 1.6 percent of his fortune.
Adnan and Soraya Khashoggi
Settlement Cost:
$874 million
What went down:
While international arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi, was known to be one of the richest men in the world, his divorce from Soraya Khashoggi gained international attention due to their $874 million dollar settlement.
After 13 years of marriage and five children, the couple decided to divorce in 1974, where Soraya originally demanded $2.3 billion dollars. The divorce took five years to process and removed Adnan from his financial status he was so famously known for.
Craig and Wendy McCaw
Settlement Cost:
$460 million
What went down:
What’s your husband’s is yours, right? Well, that’s exactly what Wendy McCaw thought when her husband Craig filed for divorce after 21 years of marriage for personal differences.
After when Craig sold his communications company, McCaw Cellular, he made a hefty amount of money and decided to separate from his wife. Wendy sought half of his earning, where she ended up receiving $460 million dollars.
Steve Wynn and Elaine Wynn
Settlement cost:
$1 billion
What went down:
Being together since they were 18 years old, Steve and Elaine Wynn were married and divorced two times during the span of their relationship.
Even though it’s been reported that they split amicably in 2010 for good — the cause of the divorce was that they just felt like they weren’t suited to be in a romantic relationship with each other — they continued to be great business partners since they divorce by opening the Bellagio together.
So what did Elaine receive exactly? An even split of their stakes in the Wynn company — yes, those well-known hotels — and Steve would always vote for her to stay on the board.
Harold Hamm and Sue Ann Hamm
Settlement cost:
$1 billion
What went down:
Nothing is more painful than being awarded less than what you think you deserve, especially when you feel like you’ve helped build a multi-billion dollar company with your ex-husband.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to Sue Ann Hamm, the ex-wife of Harold Hamm, aka the creator of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources.
Instead of being awarded half of Hamm’s $18 billion worth income, he appealed her appeal and offered a nearly $1 billion check to put the divorce behind him.
While Sue Ann hesitated to cash the check at first, she eventually took the money. She claimed that she was owed more because during the span of their marriage, she contributed to the growth of the company as the former executive at Continental and as a partner to Mr. Hamm. However, the Oklahoma courts decided to side with Mr. Hamm, stating that he owned the majority of the shares before he got married.
Rupert Murdoch and Anna Torv
Settlement cost:
$1 billion
What went down:
Sometimes you just gotta take what you can get, right? For Anna Torv, that was the lesson from her failed marriage to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Anna reportedly wanted desperately to save the marriage, but she claimed that “[Rupert] had no interest in that whatsoever.”
She also stated that he was “hard, ruthless, and determined that he was going to go through with this no matter what I wanted.”
While her husband was worth $7.8 billion at the time, Torv walked away with $1.7 billion — with $100 million of that being in cash.
While these two had a tumultuous divorce, they both ended up marrying other people.
Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone
Settlement Cost:
$1.2 billion
What went down:
When former model, Slavica Ecclestone, filed for divorce in 2008 from Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of Formula One racing, for “unreasonable behavior” after 24 years of marriage, she received $1.2 billion when it was finalized in 2009.
However, Slavica wasn’t the only one who ended up with extra cash in her pocket. It was revealed in 2014 that Bernie ended up receiving about $500 million dollars since the divorce had been settled from Slavica’s own trust fund. I guess we could considered this divorce a win-win on both behalfs.
Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng
Settlement Cost:
$1.8 billion
What went down:
Having this be Rupert Murdoch’s third divorce, you would think things would’ve ended up differently for this billionaire, but, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Wendi Deng and Murdoch married only 17 days after his second divorce was finalized, and after 13 years, things had come to an end. According to a sealed document, "the relationship between the husband and wife has broken down irretrievably.”
In addition to the money that Deng received, she was also awarded the Fifth Avenue apartment because it was considered their two daughters' home.
Alec and Jocelyn Wildenstein
Settlement cost:
$2.5 billion
What went down:
Probably known as one of the messiest and weirdest divorces that have ever occurred in history, Alex and Jocelyn Wildenstein also hold the record for one of the highest divorce settlements, ever.
Jocelyn Wildenstein received $2.5 billion, and she’ll get $100 million a year for the next nine years to help maintain her lifestyle.
But why did they decide to get divorced in the first place? Essentially, her plastic surgery practices began the separation process. Jocelyn claimed she altered her face to look more feline to appear more attractive to her then-husband — but, apparently, it had the opposite effect.
Later, she found her husband in bed with a 21-year-old model, which led to an altercation where Jocelyn claimed Alec pulled a gun on her and her bodyguards. The police were called and Alec spent the night in jail.
Soon after, Jocelyn filed for divorce. During the two-year messy divorce battle, it was reported that Alec cut off Jocelyn’s phone and credit cards and even fired her accountant.
Vladimir Potanin and Natalia Potanina
Settlement Cost:
$6.4 billion
What went down:
Going through a divorce after many years of marriage can be hard. But throw a billion dollars into the mix and, frankly, things can get nasty.
For Vladimir and Natalia Potanina, that’s exactly what happen when Natalia sought $15 billion from her ex-husband’s estate after claiming she was humiliated by Vladimir when he started a relationship with an employee 15 years his junior.
While she ended up not receiving the settlement that she wanted, Natalia did get around $6.4 billion dollars in addition to already being rewarded $4.8 million from a sale of a luxury apartment in central Moscow.