13th-April-2007
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Spielberg and Diamond top Forbes' costliest divorces list | |
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1773 Quote:
Spielberg and Diamond top Forbes' costliest divorces list
The bigger they are, the harder they fall - especially in the world of celebrity divorce.
Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg and singer-songwriter Neil Diamond top a new Forbes magazine list of the most costly divorce settlements of the stars.
Neil Diamond $150 million (£75.5 million) settlement to one-time TV production assistant Marcia Murphey came in Second.
The couple married in 1969 before his breakthrough album, "Touching You, Touching Me," went gold, Forbes said.
They divorced in 1996. Diamond later said Murphey, his second wife, was "worth every penny," according to Forbes.
Steven Spielberg's first marriage, to actress Amy Irving, ended in 1989 with his ex-spouse awarded roughly half of the filmmaker's fortune, about $100 million (£50 million), ranking No. 3 on Forbes' list.
The magazine said Irving won that settlement after successfully contesting their prenuptial agreement, reportedly scribbled on a napkin, because she had lacked legal representation.
Forbes ranked the pending divorce between former Beatle Paul McCartney and ex-model Heather Mills at No. 6, based on reports suggesting she may collect more than $60 million (£30 million) of Sir Paul's $700 million (£353 million) net worth.
Michael Jordan's pending divorce from his wife of nearly 18 years, Chicago bank officer Juanita Vanoy, could end up as the most expensive in entertainment history, Forbes said, if his estranged spouse walks away with half his fortune.
With Jordan having earned much of his wealth during his marriage, most of it through endorsement deals, Vanoy (who filed for divorce last year) stands to collect more than $150 million, (£75.5 million) the magazine said.
Actor Harrison Ford ranks No. 4 on the list with an estimated $85 million (£43 million) paid to his former wife, Melissa Mathison, who Forbes said negotiated a piece of his future earnings from films made while they were married.
Fellow screen star Kevin Costner landed in fifth place for an estimated $80 million (£40 million) settlement obtained by his first spouse, Cindy Silva, whose 16-year marriage to the actor spanned his peak earning years.
Another rock superstar, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, got off much easier, giving up a fraction of his estate - $15 million (£7.5 million) to $25 million (12.6 million) - to Texas supermodel Jerry Hall after he successfully challenged the legality of their 1990 Balinese wedding ceremony and obtained an annulment.
Still that sum was enough to land Jagger on Forbes' list at No. 10.
Film director James Cameron (No. 7), paid an estimated $50 million (£25 million) - half of what he earned for "Titanic" - to settle his divorce from actress Linda Hamilton.
Michael Douglas (No. 8) paid an estimated $45 million (£22.7 million) settlement to his first wife, Diandra and singer Lionel Richie (No. 9) trumped up an estimated $20 million (10 million) he paid to his second wife, Diane.
| A comment: Quote:
How come if the wife chooses to leave, she is entitled to half the money? I can understand it if the husband leaves. She's effectively saying - "I want to be with someone else and I want you to pay for our new life together". Anyway, what goes around comes around.
- Paul, Preston |
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