Expensive Divorces: 6 High-Profile Splits (PHOTOS)

We all know divorce can be costly, but what if the parties are worth millions--or even billions? When the monetary stakes are that high, settlements can be staggering. Click through for six divorces with serious assets.

All photos by Getty.

Loading Slideshow

• Rupert and Anna Murdoch

  After more than <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/murdochs-a-family-crisis-214430" target="_hplink">30 years of marriage</a>, News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6047633/Top-10-divorce-settlements.html" target="_hplink">split with his wife, Anna,</a> in 1998. The former couple -- who had <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/business/worldbusiness/02iht-murdoch.html?_r=0" target="_hplink">three children together</a> -- <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_-syAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cggGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6534,2630482&dq=rupert+murdoch+divorce+settlement&hl=en" target="_hplink">settled their divorce</a> in 1999 when she walked away with a whopping <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6047633/Top-10-divorce-settlements.html" target="_hplink">$1.7 billion</a>.

• Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore

  Mel Gibson's <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/braveheart-star-mel-gibson-wife-robyn-moore-files-divorce-article-1.360670" target="_hplink">wife of 28 years</a>, Robyn Moore, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/braveheart-star-mel-gibson-wife-robyn-moore-files-divorce-article-1.360670" target="_hplink">filed for divorce</a> from the actor in April 2009. The ex-couple -- who has <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20271996,00.html" target="_hplink">seven children together</a> -- <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-57348444-10391698/mel-gibson-wife-finalize-divorce-in-los-angeles/" target="_hplink">finalized their split</a> in December 2011. Because they <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2009/04/13/mel-gibson-divorce/" target="_hplink">did not have a prenup</a>, Moore reportedly walked away from the marriage with <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2012/09/05/mel-gibson-robyn-wife-divorce-settlement-retirement/" target="_hplink">roughly half </a>of Gibson's <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2012/09/05/mel-gibson-robyn-wife-divorce-settlement-retirement/" target="_hplink">$800 million fortune</a>. In September 2012, TMZ revealed that the former Mrs. Gibson was set to receive a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/mel-gibson-divorce-ex-wif_n_1859524.html" target="_hplink">large portion of the actor's retirement package</a> as well.

• Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren

  Despite outrageous rumors of a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/06/30/elin-nordegren-gets-m-custody-kids-exchange-silence-tiger-woods-divorce/" target="_hplink">$750 million settlement</a>, Tiger Wood's ex-wife <a href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/10/exclusive-tiger-woods-divorce-payout-wife-revealed-110-million" target="_hplink">reportedly received $110 million </a>and joint custody of their two children. In 2009, Woods became the first athlete to earn a <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/29/tiger-woods-billion-business-sports-tiger.html" target="_hplink">cumulative $1 billion</a> through his income from prize money, appearances, endorsements and other business.

• Madonna and Guy Ritchie

  According to Madonna's <a href="http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20246841,00.html" target="_hplink">spokeswoman</a>, the Material Girl paid her ex between $76 million and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/madonna-forks-92-million-divorce-settlement-guy-ritchie-article-1.356840" target="_hplink">$92 million</a>, which includes the value of the couple's country home in western England and their London pub, The Punchbowl. Though Ritchie is <a href="http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/guy-ritchie/1980957/main" target="_hplink">well-known film director</a>, he is worth less than the American pop star, and is one of the few notable male recipients of a divorce settlement.

• Kirk Kerkorian and Lisa Bonder

  In 2010, MGM-Mirage owner Kirk Kerkorian was <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2010/10/22/mgm-billionaire-kirk-kerkorian-lisa-kerkorian-bonder-daughter-child-support-divorce-settlement/" target="_hplink">ordered to pay </a>his wife of 28 days, Lisa Bonder, an additional $50,000 in child support each month -- doubling her previous award. She was also awarded an <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2010/10/22/mgm-billionaire-kirk-kerkorian-lisa-kerkorian-bonder-daughter-child-support-divorce-settlement/" target="_hplink">additional $10,250,000</a> in retroactive child support for her 12-year-old daughter, whom Kerkorian may not even have fathered.

• Stephen and Elaine Wynn

  The Las Vegas power couple, and owners of their <a href="http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/" target="_hplink">namesake Vegas hotels</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/07/steve-wynn-divorce-settle_n_414493.html" target="_hplink">divorced for the second time</a> -- they were first married in 1963 for 23 years -- in 2010. According to <em><a href="http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/18/billionaire-divorces-steve-wynn-sumner-redstone-business-billionaires-divorce.html" target="_hplink">Forbes</a></em>, Elaine collected $740 million worth of stock when the deal was agreed upon, and is now worth $1.05 billion. Steve Wynn's <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/elaine-wynn-joins-former-husband-in-forbes--wealthiest-list-103777864.html?mobile=y" target="_hplink">net worth was $1.9 billion</a>, down from $2.3 billion in 2009, prior to the divorce.

• Roman and Irina Abramovich

  The Russian oil and aluminum mogul and his former wife, Irina, were <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/mar/16/russia.football" target="_hplink">married for 16 years</a> and had five children before they split in 2007. She <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/34316968/The_World_s_Most_Expensive_Divorce_Settlements?slide=11" target="_hplink">received $300 million in assets</a> -- less than two percent of his $18.7 billion fortune -- <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/mar/16/russia.football" target="_hplink">in the settlement,</a> which included cash, mansions in Britain and Moscow, a yacht, and a private plane.

• Ron Perelman

  According to <em><a href="http://nymag.com/relationships/features/16469/" target="_hplink">New York Magazine</a></em>, investor and restaurant owner Ron Perelman has paid over $138 million in settlements to his four ex-wives. The first, <a href="http://nymag.com/relationships/features/16469/" target="_hplink">Faith Goldberg</a>, was awarded $8 million, followed by <a href="http://nymag.com/relationships/features/16469/" target="_hplink">Claudia Cohen's</a> whopping $80 million. <a href="http://nymag.com/relationships/features/16469/" target="_hplink">Patricia Duff</a>, his third wife, reportedly racked in $30 million, and fourth wife <a href="http://nymag.com/relationships/features/16469/" target="_hplink">Ellen Barkin</a> received between $20 and $60 million.

Comments

[maxwelllaw]

04:40 PM on 12/05/2010

Charlotte Attorney says: A well prepared prenuptial agreement can prevent a big payout during a divorce.

http://maxwelllegal.com
http://concordnclawyer.com

[KeithClark]

06:45 AM on 11/23/2010

You cannot be mad at ANYONE for $750 million I don't care who you are or what you've done! You cannot be mad about that!

[Guest211]

04:38 PM on 11/22/2010

Celebrities = WHO CARES

[wigcon]

01:35 PM on 11/22/2010

This is my favorite divorce. May she enjoy every penny of it.

[MaryJane Colorado]

03:40 PM on 11/18/2010

Elin deserves every penny of it. He's an a-hole.

[Mutande]

08:14 PM on 11/17/2010

A $750 dollar settlement. Who's her lawyer? (See photo caption) Oh, someone left out the word "million." Good think it didn't happen in the divorce papers.

[Limeheart]

06:40 PM on 11/17/2010

I notice most of the expensive divorces have mostly blond wives - wonder what the divorce stats are on brunette v. blond v. rehead?? Just curious

[Spartan112]

09:42 AM on 11/17/2010

These awards are ridiculous.

[elanenergy]

06:57 PM on 11/16/2010

Well now I'm depressed. Ron Pearlman's wives.....the settlement figures......they astound. My settlement was two sticks of gum and a roll of aluminum foil, that I recycled.

Middle Class divorces aren't like these fine upstanding million/billionaires. These people have professional wire-tapping experts and teams of hackers helping to find hidden assets. If only the Government had such resources. Hmmmmmm.

[Mr Bobo]

01:04 PM on 11/17/2010

It's amazing that a celeb who makes $20 million a year can sue their celeb spouse who makes $100 million per year for support. I thought spousal support was created in the depression era so that wives with no means of support (women weren't commonly in the workforce) wouldn't end up destitute.

Then came the divorce attorneys (cue Star Wars Darth Vader music).

[JacksonD]

04:10 AM on 11/18/2010

I think it comes down to the "lifestyle they've become accustomed to" thing.

[jmhuntin]

06:06 PM on 11/16/2010

Word here in Oklahoma was that the ex-wife of local boy Garth Brooks got $80 million.

[Mr Bobo]

07:57 PM on 11/16/2010

Her hooha must be lined with diamonds.

[boyoboy]

10:36 AM on 11/17/2010

There was a huge disparity in their incomes, they had a long-term marriage w/no prenup, and Sandy had no similar earning capacity.

[Mr Bobo]

02:53 PM on 11/16/2010

The vaginamony laws in this country are archaic. And if you can't collect that, then just pad the child support, right ladies? That's what Lisa Bonder did.

[boyoboy]

10:41 AM on 11/17/2010

Although the women are taking the money, it's the states that make the laws.  I live in California, and the philosophy behind child support is that it's is acceptable to improve the standard of living for the custodial parent's household in order to maintain the standard of living for the child at issue -- meaning everyone in the custodial parent's household gets a slice of the payor's pie. 

The big driver behind child support awards (at the average person's level) is welfare.  Guideline child support is intended to keep custodial parents off of welfare.  That's a problem for many single parents w/no education and previous work experience.

[boyoboy]

10:45 AM on 11/17/2010

And, California's child suppport philosophy is that if the child support award is too high for the payor to maintain his/her standard of living, the payor must adjust his/her standard of living to fit the child support payment.  If that means you're 50 and have to live in your car or your parents' house, that's what you do.

When you go thru dissolution, you have to wait through other couple's cases/testimony.  One guy paid CS for three kids, and it left him with less than $1000 to live on.

[Mr Bobo]

01:01 PM on 11/17/2010

I recall several years ago when Gray Davis was Governor, there was an assembly bill designed to give men who were the victims of paternity fraud a way to appeal child support judgments with a paternity test. CA's system is such that a woman can simply claim that Joe Blow, approximately age 25 is the father of her child. The state has no requirement to serve papers in person and would simply send them via mail. If Joe Blow didn't reside at that address and never received the papers, the claimant would receive a default judgment and start garnishment of wages. If the male didn't appeal within a very small window (24 mos?) he was screwed.

The bill made it possible to appeal something like 5 years from the time that paternity fraud was discovered. Gray Davis vetoed it because it would have resulted in a huge financial burden to the state if they couldn't collect from men who were on the hook who could prove they weren't the fathers and were the victims of paternity fraud.

I'm happily married with kids but I hate social injustices, especially when the state is involved. They say approx 1/3 of men who pay child support could be excluded as the parent by a DNA test but the state doesn't care because it's "in the best interest of the child". Scary!

[woundedduck]

02:32 PM on 11/16/2010

Elaine Wynn's face says mid-50s, her hands say 70s.

[LMPE]

02:00 PM on 11/16/2010

It seems easier to just cohabit without getting married. That way, the couple won't have to go through any of this.

Elaine Wynn looks kind of like http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0385647/

[boyoboy]

10:46 AM on 11/17/2010

If you're in a Registered Domestic Partnership in CA, you have to go through it.  It's essentially the same as being married.

[DJlaysitup]

01:44 PM on 11/16/2010

...however, when the settlements were figured as a percentage of overall assets and income transferance, 'DJlaysitup's' divorce settlement took top spot...

[awckid3]

01:34 PM on 11/16/2010

"Bonder was also awarded an additional $10,250,000 in retroactive child support for her 12-year-old daughter, whom Kerkorian may not even have fathered."

If he's not the father, why should he have to pay? That's some BS!

[lcima]

02:16 PM on 11/16/2010

Child support is awarded "in the best interests of the child". If he was acting like her father, then for all intents and purposes, he was her father.

[awckid3]

07:09 PM on 11/16/2010

I think the "best" interest of the child would be knowing who its real father is. Money issues should be secondary, shouldn't they?

[Spartan112]

09:40 AM on 11/17/2010

That is ridiculous.

[Mr Bobo]

02:46 PM on 11/16/2010

Yeah, the child was determined to be Stephen Bing's. I guess Ms. Bonder decided child support from a billionaire was better than child support from a multi-millionaire. she's a perfect example of what is wrong with the child support laws in this country.

I think the more logical way to award child support would be to collect from the biological or adoptive parent, rather than our current system of "whatever chump is most convenient so the gov't doesn't have to support the kid".

[Susan Shaffer]

03:39 PM on 11/16/2010

what is it with stephen bing. how many kids has he got out there and why isn't he looking after them? remember liz hurley has his son