Highlights
- Celebrity divorces involve expensive fees and interpersonal difficulties, often with family, business collaborators, and powerful friends.
- High-profile celebrity relationships face intense scrutiny from the public, adding to the stress on the couple.
- Divorce settlements for celebrities can reach astronomical amounts, such as Bill and Melinda Gates' $76 billion split.
Divorces are often unavoidable (even for celebrities in the spotlight) – and high net worth splits typically involve expensive fees and interpersonal difficulties with family members, business collaborators, and powerful friends. For celebrities, divorce regularly entails massive settlements and equally large fights over the wealth these couples accumulated together.
Over the years, many celebrity couples have gotten together and have broken up, even the seemingly picture perfect ones. Being a celebrity means having most of your life exposed to the public, the internet, and the world in general.
Unsurprisingly, most high profile celebrity relationships face an unrelenting level of scrutiny, placing yet another a stressor on the couple. Join us in this dive into the most expensive celebrity divorces in history – this list is based mostly on approximate figures of the proceedings and information disclosed to the public, whereas relevant information is occasionally redacted from the record for privacy.
1 Melinda And Bill Gates: $76 Billion (2021)
A well known co-founder of the huge tech firm Microsoft, Bill Gates rose to become extremely rich – and remains among the richest people in the world (despite no longer claiming the top spot).
The couple was together for about 27 years, marrying in 1994 and later separating in 2021. As the couple called the state of Washington (which is a community state) home, Melinda Gates was entitled to a fifty-fifty split of all the wealth the two had created, as there was no evidence of any prenuptial agreement.
Additionally, Melinda had played a significant role in building the Gates' fortune. Since Bill Gates was undoubtedly wealthy, Melinda's compensation amounted to about $76 billion.
Both Bill and Melinda Gates have been known to give back in large sums through philanthropic foundations, something they continue to do in spite of their 2021 divorce.
2 MacKenzie Scott And Jeff Bezos: $38.3 billion (2019)
Jeff Bezos is a familiar name the world over, known as the founder of internet retail giant Amazon.com, and he was was married to wife MacKenzie Scott for almost 25 years. Having studied at Princeton, MacKenzie earned her own BSC degree in English – and was significant as not only Jeff's wife, but also played a significant role as a business partner and co-founder of Amazon.
This, coupled with the absence of an existing prenuptial agreement, Scott was awarded a settlement of about $38.3 billion (approximately, as the specific terms are to a degree kept out of the public record). It is noteworthy that MacKenzie donated a significant part of her payout to various charities and organizations to support people living poverty, racial justice, and education.
3 Kim Kardashian And Kanye West: $2.1 Billion (2022)
Probably the most recent (and the most present in the media by far) divorce on the list, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West "broke the internet" by getting together in 2014, and again with their divorce in 2022. The couple had four kids together; Kim was awarded a settlement of about $2.1 billion, and a monthly settlement of about $200,000 for each of the four kids they have together.
Kim is known for her various luxury lifestyle brands and entrepreneurship ventures in the beauty, fashion and lifestyle industry. Additionally, Kanye is an acclaimed hip hop (and recently gospel music) artist, with both loved and loathed by masses and fans.
4 Rupert And Anna Murdoch: $1.7 Billion (1999)
Even though it has been over two decades since their divorce, Rupert Murdoch and Anne Murdoch still rank fourth on this list of the most expensive settlement payouts in the recent history of divorce as of 2023. The couple were married for 31 years and divorced in 1999.
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Australian news magnate Rupert Murdoch is passing the torch to son Lachlan.The staggering Murdoch fortune stemmed mostly from their vast media empire, as they are well known as titans in the media industry. Anna Murdoch received a payout of $1.7 billion, and was for a while the most expensive settlement ... before other wealthy divorcees settled with their former spouses.
5 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum And Princess Haya bint al-Hussein: $728 Million (2021)
The ruler of Dubai and Princess Haya divorced after 15 years of marriage in 2021. At the time, Princess Haya was paid $728 million, and as such, ranks fifth on the list.
Not much was disclosed on the settlement, but elements tying the couple's wealth to generational influence and control over the oil industry in the Middle East inform estimates of the resulting settlement.
6 Michael Jordan And Juanita Vanoy: $168 Million (2006)
Basketball legend Michael Jordan and his first wife Juanita's divorce settlement ranks sixth on the list. This couple amicably separated and divorced in 2006, after 17 years of marriage.
Juanita's payout was estimated to have been about $168 million at the time. The pair had three kids, who are since all grown up – and are actively involved in their father's Air Jordan shoe brand.
7 Mel Gibson And Robyn Moore: $425 Million (2011)
In another divorce affected by a lack of a standing prenuptial agreement, Oscar winner Mel Gibson relinquished half of his $850 million fortune to his wife of 31 years when they split. In the divorce, Robyn Moore was awarded $425 million, making this 2011 divorce the seventh most expensive settlement on the list.
8 Neil Diamond And Marcia Murphey: $150 Million (1994)
Singer and songwriter Neil Diamond has sold millions in records. After 25 years together, the couple decided to divorce back in 1994.
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Neil Diamond is perhaps one of the most commercially successful artists ever.Marcia Murphey was awarded $150 million in the divorce. Moreover, her ex-husband reportedly mused that "she was worth every penny."
9 Garth Brooks And Sandy Mahl: $125 Million (2000)
Country music legend Garth Brooks settled with his now ex-wife Sandy Mahl for $125 million in their 2000 divorce agreement. The two had been friends for a while before getting married and shared a complicated history – but in the end called it quits, and rank ninth on the list.
10 Tiger Woods And Elin Nordegren: $100 Million (2010)
Tiger Woods – known for his blockbuster golfing career – had to part with a sixth of his golfing fortune (approximately $100 million) after his divorce to from former wife Elin Nordegren.
Woods and Nordgren's expensive split differs from several others on the list; the pair were married for five years, and unlike other couples, drafted a prenuptial agreement before tying the knot. Most of the details of the finalized divorce were kept out of the public eye, making firm figures harder to discern – nevertheless, the former lovebirds complete the list in the tenth spot.
For the most part, celebrity divorces are complicated – from the emotional hardship, to the generally harsh scorn and lack of sympathy from the public. It's not uncommon for such splits to become adversarial, creating public relations nightmares and influencing public opinion for years after ink on divorce papers has dried.
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