Basketball legend Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy met on a blind date in 1984. They had two sons together, Jefferey Michael and Marcus James. Seventeen years later they divorced. When their divorce was finalized in 2007, they held the record for the most expensive celebrity divorce. Another record to add to Jordan’s already long list of achievements, we’re sure just not the kind he’s proud of.
But, one thing is for certain, the greatest basketball player of all time could afford to hand over the hefty cost, considering his net worth of 1.7 billion dollars.
$1.2 Billion
Scottish journalist Anna Mann and Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch married in 1967. Anna worked for his Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph. She was Rupert’s second wife. 32 years later, the pair divorced in 1999. During their marriage, they had three children together: Elisabeth Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and James Murdoch.
Right before their separation, Murdoch was made a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, a papal honor awarded by Pope John Paul II. Their divorce settlement of a staggering $1.2 billion was mind-blowing, but considering Murdoch’s net worth of $18.1 billion, he’ll be okay.
$4.2 Billion
Amazon tycoon, Jeff Bezos met his now ex-wife Mackenzie in 1992, when she was working in one of his hedge funds. They quickly got married in 1993 and became one of the richest couples in history. They went on to have 4 children (three sons and an adopted daughter from China). After 25 years of marriage, the couple announced it would be divorcing in 2019.
Jeff Bezos is said to have fallen for another woman, Lauren Sanchez, an actor and helicopter pilot. Even though divorces are never simple, it's good to know that these two at least ended on amicable terms (as much as they could). Mackenzie gave all of her divorce settlement money to charity. Wow!
$15 Million
Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy and Nicole Mitchell met in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show. A few years later, in 1993, they tied the knot at the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City. The model-comedian duo had five children together: Bria, Myles, Shayne, Zola, and Bella.
Sadly, the children couldn't keep the two together and they got divorced in 2006. Considering Murphy’s success, in projects like Shrek and The Nutty Professor, he definitely could have paid more than $15 million but they had signed a prenuptial agreement. This was unfortunate for Nicole who is reportedly in debt.
$5 Million
This is definitely one of the strangest settlements out there. In 1989, Baywatch hunk, David Hasselhoff and actress Pamela Bach got married. They had two daughters together over the span of their marriage.
In 2006, David announced that he was filing for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Hasselhoff has struggled with alcoholism, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Pamela got $5 million from the divorce settlement while the Guinness World record holder of the most-watched man on TV got his name “The Hoff.” We’re pretty sure that’s a win for him.