Celebs That Lost The Most Money In A Divorce

NBA legend Michael Jordan learned a valuable lesson about protecting his fortune after his marriage to his first wife, Juanita Vanoy. The couple married in 1989, but just shy of 13 years later, Vanoy filed for divorce from the former Chicago Bulls basketball player, citing "irreconcilable differences," according to The Washington Post. However, as Celebrity Net Worth noted, Vanoy would end up "rescinding the divorce filing" and the couple would remain together for a few more years. They eventually came to the realization they could no longer be together, and in a statement provided to People, their lawyer said the couple "mutually and amicably" split up for good in 2006. 

At the time of their divorce, Jordan was reported to have an estimated net worth of $400 million, and with no prenuptial agreement, Vanoy was entitled to a lot of it. According to Chicago Business, Vanoy ended up with a cool $168 million in the divorce settlement. The divorce payout, which happened to be one of the biggest in all of sports, surprisingly made a minor dent in Jordan's net worth. Forbes reported that in 2009, Jordan had a staggering net worth of $525 million. In 2020, Celebrity Net Worth estimated the retired NBA star has a net worth of $2.2 billion. He has also since remarried to model Yvette Prieto in 2013, making sure that this time, there was a signed prenuptial agreement, according to the National Enquirer (via Daily Mail).

Actor Mel Gibson's infamous drunk driving arrest and anti-Semitic tirade in Malibu hasn't been the only story from his personal life to make headlines. As reported by Reuters, the Lethal Weapon actor landed in the press after his wife Robyn Moore filed for divorce in 2009, citing "irreconcilable differences." The Hollywood couple called it quits following his arrest, and as TMZ reported, the actor went on to have a child with Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva before his divorce from Moore was finalized. 

Gibson married Moore back in 1980, just as his career was beginning to take off. She was with the actor as he made a fortune off of his box office hits, a vast roster that includes movies like Mad Max, Braveheart, and The Passion of the Christ. According to TMZ, at the time of the split, Gibson had an insane net worth of $800 million, and with no prenuptial agreement, Moore was entitled to half. When their divorce was finalized in 2011, Celebrity Net Worth reported that Moore received $425 million in the divorce settlement, making it one of "the most expensive divorce settlements of all time." 

Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills tied the knot in 2002, but their marriage was short-lived, with the couple filing for divorce in 2006 (via Reuters). It was reported that the former couple named "the media intrusion into their private lives" as a cause for their bitter divorce. There was more to the story: As the Evening Standard (via TMZ) reported, Mills made a number of grisly allegations against her ex-husband. In a statement provided to Access Hollywood, a rep for McCartney said the musician would be "defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately" in court.

During their time in court, The Guardian noted the judge apparently "question[ed] Mills' character" and called it "unfair" for her to go on living a life "in the same manner" after splitting from the extremely wealthy star. As Reuters reported, a judge ordered the Beatles rocker to pay Mills $48.7 million. After the ruling, Mills appeared to be content with the end results, even though, as The Guardian reported, she apparently believed she should have received upwards of over $171 million from the singer. "I am so glad it is over," she told reporters (via The Guardian). "It is an incredible result in the end. We are very, very pleased. I am so, so happy with it." 

Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg did not think things through when he made his first wife, Amy Irving, scrawl her signature on a napkin, assuming it would certify that the couple had a prenuptial agreement, according to Forbes. The former couple tied the knot in 1985, only to file for divorce four years later, citing "competing stresses of their careers," according to Celebrity Net Worth. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, in 1994, Irving revealed that she "felt like a politician's wife" while married to the prominent director, adding, "There were certain things expected of me that definitely weren't me. One of my problems is that I'm very honest and direct. You pay the price for that. But then I behaved myself and I paid the price too." 

Spielberg had a net worth of $200 million, with Irving receiving half of his wealth in the divorce settlement after a judge refused to recognize the signatures on a napkin, because Irving "did not have legal representation" when she signed the impromptu document, according to Forbes. At the time of the split, it was the "third most costly divorce in history," according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Professional golfer Tiger Woods got into a car crash that ended up igniting a very public infidelity scandal. In the days that followed the 2009 accident, the National Enquirer dropped a bombshell of a report that revealed Woods cheated on his wife, Elin Nordegren. And it was far from a one-off. The stories of his infidelities made headlines around the world, and as BBC recalled, when the New York Post put the sports star on their cover for 20 days in a row, "it beat a record set by the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington in 2001."

A divorce was coming his way, and Nordegren was entitled to a whopping amount. Some reports suggested she would get up to as much as $750 million, but TMZ shut down those rumors, noting that the golfer was not worth that much.

In 2010, Nordegren filed for divorce, telling People that she had "been through hell." Tiger Woods publicly apologized for cheating on his wife, but it would not help save their marriage. The Los Angeles Times reported that Nordegren ended up with $100 million in the divorce settlement. 

Billionaire Rupert Murdoch lost quite a few bucks after he and Anna Murdoch ended their marriage after 32 years, and as The Telegraph noted, it was one of the most expensive settlements of all time: The media mogul forked over a mind-blowing $1.7 billion to his second ex-wife. Just a little over two weeks after the ink was dry on the divorce settlement, Rupert was ready to give matrimony a third shot, marrying a then-30-year-old Wendi Deng. However, that marriage wouldn't last either, with the couple divorcing in 2013, as Los Angeles Times noted.

As CNBC reported, an insider said Rupert had a prenuptial agreement set up with Deng, so their split wouldn't cost as much as his second divorce. The details of the settlement were not made public, but in a statement obtained by Los Angeles Times, the former couple said they "reached an amicable settlement." 

Anna would later reveal to Australian Women's Weekly (via Independent) that while she knew her ex-husband was having an affair with Deng, she was determined to save their marriage. "He was extremely hard, ruthless and determined that he was going to go through with this, no matter what I wanted or what I was trying to do to save the marriage," she shared. "He had no interest in that whatsoever."