The famous song tells us that "breaking up is hard to do". But for the super-rich, it can be a million or even billion-dollar affair.
Read on to discover the stories and incredible sums behind some of the biggest publicly disclosed divorce settlements of all time.
All dollars amounts in US dollars with pre-2022 settlement figures adjusted for inflation.
Award-winning actor Amy Irving met Steven Spielberg when she auditioned for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Although Irving was considered too young for the role in Spielberg's 1977 film, her audition sparked a four-year relationship between the pair.
After separating in 1980, Irving and Spielberg reunited and married in 1985. However, their marriage ended after just four years, paving the way for a costly divorce.
Although the couple signed a prenuptial agreement, Irving successfully contested it on the basis that it had been written on a napkin. She received around half of Spielberg's fortune in 1989, walking away with $100 million, the equivalent of $253 million (£191m) in 2024 money.
Today, Spielberg's net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion (£3.6bn).
Professional golfer Tiger Woods met model and au pair Elin Nordegren in 2001. Three years later, they got married at a five-star resort in Barbados and moved into an estate in Jupiter Island, Florida worth the equivalent of $65 million (£49m) in today's money.
But six years after they tied the knot, the couple's marriage, and Woods' glittering golf career, began to unravel.
Woods made global news headlines in 2009 when more than a dozen women claimed to have had an affair with him. After numerous media accusations, a high-profile car crash, and several axed brand deals, Woods and Nordegren separated unofficially.
As part of their divorce settlement in 2010, Nordegren received $100 million, the equivalent of $144 million (£109m) in today's money, making it one of the most expensive separations in sporting history.
In 2004, the American entrepreneur Frank McCourt bought the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team for $430 million ($716m/£541m today). He owned the team with his then-wife Jamie McCourt, an attorney, professor, investor, and former US ambassador.
After 32 years of marriage, the couple reached a divorce settlement in 2011, shortly after the LA Dodgers were forced to file for bankruptcy.
Frank made his fortune through the McCourt Company, his real estate development business. A huge chunk of his net worth was siphoned off to Jamie as part of the divorce agreement, which also stated that Jamie had to step down from her role as CEO of the LA Dodgers.
In total, the settlement came to a staggering $131 million, or $183 million (£138m) in 2024 money.
The American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond married TV production assistant Marcia Murphey in 1969. Murphey was Diamond's second wife, and their marriage lasted more than 25 years before the couple decided to divorce in 1996, citing "irreconcilable differences".
As part of the high-profile divorce settlement, Murphey walked away with $150 million, around half of Diamond's fortune. In 2024 money that's an incredible $300 million (£227m).
The Sweet Caroline singer didn't begrudge the enormous sum, claiming that Murphey was "worth every penny".
Former model Juanita Vanoy met basketball superstar Michael Jordan in 1985 after a Chicago Bulls game. They tied the knot in 1989 and had three children together: Jeffrey, Marcus, and Jasmine.
Thirteen years later, Vanoy filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. But the couple reconciled and stayed together until February 2005, when they parted ways again.
In December 2006, the couple officially announced the decision to end their 17-year marriage. As part of the divorce settlement, Vanoy received over a third of Jordan's wealth at the time, a staggering $168 million. The equivalent of $262 million (£198m) in today's money, it remains one of the biggest divorce cases in sporting history.
The NBA legend's fortune has since recovered. According to Forbes, he's worth an eye-watering $3.2 billion (£2.4bn) today.
The late Russian business oligarch and government official Boris Berezovsky met Galina Besharova in 1981. At the time, he was reportedly a married maths professor earning less than $100 a month. Ten years later, after Berezovsky divorced his first wife, he and Besharova were married.
By this time Berezovsky had given up his professorship and started his first business, LogoVAZ, a software and Soviet car company.
The couple's divorce in a UK court in 2011 was the biggest the country had ever seen. Although the exact amount was never disclosed, it's thought that Berezovsky was ordered to pay up to $200 million to his ex-wife, the equivalent of $280 million (£211m) in today's money.
The "quickie" divorce hearing, which neither Berezovsky or Besharova attended, apparently lasted just 45 seconds, and the pair parted on good terms. They'd been living separately for 15 years but remained in close contact for the sake of their two children.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has been married five times, but his 1999 divorce from second wife, Anna, hit headlines thanks to its supposedly hefty settlement price.
Murdoch married Anna, a Scottish journalist, in 1967 and the couple had three children together. But after 28 years, the marriage had fallen apart.
According to rumours, Anna received a staggering $1.7 billion as part of the divorce settlement. However, Murdoch biographers have questioned this sum, and it's believed to have been wildly exaggerated.
Figures published by New York Magazine claim Anna walked away with around $200 million, or $378 million (£285m) in 2024 money. She also secured assurances on the control of the major portion of Murdoch's assets on behalf of her children and stepdaughter Prudence, Murdoch's child with his first wife.
Russian-born Roman Abramovich is perhaps best known as the one-time owner of England's Chelsea Football Club. But the billionaire businessman has his fingers in plenty of pies and is the primary owner of investment firm Millhouse LLC.
In addition to his impressive business portfolio, Abramovich's personal life has attracted attention, particularly his high-profile divorce from air stewardess Irina Malandina.
Despite the couple's attempts to keep their private life hidden, divorce rumours began to circulate after Irina was seen visiting high-profile divorce lawyers in London. After 16 years of marriage and five children together, the Abramovichs announced their decision to split in 2007.
At the time, Roman was the 16th-richest person in the world according to Forbes. Many people expected Irina to walk away with half of the business mogul's multi-billion dollar fortune. However, the final settlement reportedly awarded her $300 million ($455m/£344m today) and assets including two houses and a yacht.
Media magnates Robert and Sheila Johnson, who married in 1969, co-founded the US cable television channel Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1979. They went on to become the country's first African-American billionaires.
The couple had been together for 33 years when they announced their divorce in 2000, one year after selling BET to the mass media conglomerate Viacom for $3 billion, the equivalent of $5.7 billion (£4.3bn) today.
As part of the divorce settlement, Sheila reportedly received $400 million, or $730 million (£551m) in 2024 money. In 2005, she married William T. Newman, the judge who presided over her divorce from Johnson. According to Forbes, her net worth is currently $1 billion (£755m) – but, despite her impressive wealth, Sheila has told interviewers that her greatest achievement was turning her life around after divorce.
The CEO and philanthropist is now a film producer and the first African-American woman to own stakes in three sports teams.
Arnold Schwarzenegger – actor, bodybuilder, and former Governor of California – married writer Maria Shriver in 1986, nine years after they met at a charity tennis tournament.
The couple had been together for 25 years when Shriver discovered that Schwarzenegger had fathered a 14-year-old son with the family housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena. She filed for divorce in July 2011, citing irreconcilable differences.
Because the couple hadn't signed a prenuptial agreement, California law required Schwarzenegger to give Shriver 50% of his wealth at the time. However, the couple did not officially divorce until 2021, a decade after separating. Financial details of the settlement were never made public, but it's believed Shriver walked away with at least $400 million ($464m/£350m today).
According to rumours, Schwarzenegger was willing to splash out even more to apologise for his infidelity.
In 1980, then-unknown actor Mel Gibson married dental nurse Robyn Moore in Australia. After 26 years of marriage and seven children together, the couple unofficially separated in 2006 following Mel's arrest for drunk driving.
Robyn filed for divorce three years later after photos of her husband embracing the Russian pianist and singer-songwriter Oksana Grigorieva went public.
Because the Gibsons never signed a prenuptial agreement, Robyn was entitled to around half of Mel's fortune as part of their divorce settlement. She walked away with $425 million, the equivalent of $623 million (£470m) today. She was also awarded a portion of any residual earnings from Gibson's future films.
Their high-profile divorce was one of the biggest in Hollywood history, and though they parted on bad terms, Moore came to Gibson's defence when Grigorieva later accused him of domestic violence in 2010.
Roy E. Disney, the late nephew of Walt Disney, had amassed a fortune of over $1 billion by the time he and his wife Patricia Ann Dailey divorced in 2007. Aged 77 and 72 respectively, the pair had been married for 52 years.
Roy was the last member of the Disney family to work for the company. As a senior executive, he owned about 1% of the firm, which amounted to an impressive 16 million shares.
Prior to the split, Roy had appeared on the Forbes 400 list as one of America’s richest people, but the divorce saw the Disney heir lose almost half of his fortune, with Patricia awarded $600 million. That's a massive $910 million (£687m) in today's money. Roy married Disney screenwriter Leslie DeMeuse just a year later but died shortly afterwards, while Patricia passed away in 2012.
The pair left behind the Roy + Patricia Disney Family Foundation, which grants up to $5 million (£3.8m) to various social justice causes each year.
In 2021, it was announced that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the billionaire ruler of Dubai, was divorcing his estranged wife, Princess Haya. Sheikh Mohammed married Haya – an Oxford University graduate, former Olympian, and daughter of King Hussein of Jordan – in 2004.
The couple had two children, but their relationship broke down after 15 years of marriage. Princess Haya fled to England in 2019 and filed for custody of their children.
In the UK, Princess Haya sought court protection from her husband after Sheikh Mohammed ordered their children to return to Dubai – he had allegedly previously abducted two of his other daughters and forced them back to Dubai against their will. Her requests were granted.
Sheikh Mohammed was ordered to pay a total of $730 million (£550m) to his ex-wife and their two children, the equivalent of $847 million (£640m) today. The settlement included a huge budget to cover security costs – an unusual arrangement, as the judge ruled that the main threat towards the trio was "absolutely uniquely" from Sheikh Mohammed himself.
After co-founding the sprawling casino empire Wynn Resorts in 2002, Steve and Elaine Wynn divorced for the second time in 2010. They had divorced in 1986 but remarried five years later.
As a board member of Wynn Resorts since 2002, Elaine was entitled to 11 million company shares – worth around $795 million at the time – as part of the second divorce settlement. She also scooped up a large portion of the $114 million worth of stock that Steve sold that year.
The separation wasn’t all plain sailing. In 2012, Elaine sued Wynn Resorts to sell off part of her 9% stake in the company, and she was removed from the board in 2015 following a heated proxy contest. Steve then faced sexual harassment allegations in 2018. Although he denied the claims, he stepped down as CEO and chairman of Wynn Resorts and sold all his shares.
Elaine, nicknamed the "Queen of Las Vegas", is now the company's largest shareholder and has a net worth of $1.9 billion (£1.4bn), while Steve is worth $3.7 billion (£2.8bn) according to Forbes.
In 1961, Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi married 20-year-old Soraya. Born as Sandra Daley in Leicester, England, Soraya converted to Islam and changed her name in preparation for her marriage.
The couple's lavish lifestyle saw them rubbing shoulders with celebrities at their 17 different properties, but after 13 years and five children together, Khashoggi's infidelity put an end to the marriage.
Adnan Khashoggi made his fortune as Saudi Arabia's chief arms dealer and was once the richest person in the world before losing his billionaire status in 2007. Soraya sued her then-husband for $2.5 billion after the pair separated in 1979.
In 1982, she eventually walked away with $874 million, a massive $2.8 billion (£2.1bn) in today's money. However, Soraya claimed her top priority was to prevent her husband from moving her five children to the Middle East, where she wouldn't have been able to visit them.
Oil magnate Harold Hamm's divorce from his wife, the lawyer and economist Sue Ann Arnall, was a lengthy affair. Three years of bitter court battles finally culminated in a settlement in 2015.
Hamm brought the case to a close when he agreed to write his ex-wife a cheque for just under $975 million, or $1.3 billion (£982m) in 2024 money.
After depositing the cheque, Arnall decided she wanted a bigger slice of Hamm’s then $13 billion fortune and filed an appeal. The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with Hamm and agreed to dismiss the appeal. Arnall was unable to claim more of her former husband’s enormous wealth but did fund a political action committee that eventually succeeded in unseating the judge who had overseen the settlement.
Both parties spent millions of dollars on legal fees. Harold Hamm is currently worth $22.5 billion (£17bn) according to Forbes.
The American investor and fund manager Bill Gross made his fortune through Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), which he co-founded in 1971. Dubbed "the nation's most prominent bond investor" by The New York Times, Gross married his second wife, the philanthropist Sue J. Frank, in 1985.
Their contentious divorce began in 2016 and was finalised in 2018 after two years of negotiations.
In the final settlement, Sue walked away with $1.3 billion worth of assets ($1.6bn/£1.2bn today), including a 13,819-square-foot (1,283-square metre) home in Laguna Beach, California worth $36 million (£27m). According to the New York Post, Bill filled the mansion with stink bombs before he left and even hired a security company to monitor Sue's activity. The couple eventually got matching restraining orders. As part of the settlement, Sue also received a contested Picasso painting called Les Repos, which she auctioned off at Sotheby's for $37 million (£28m).
The divorce pushed Bill off the Forbes 400 list. According to Forbes, both Bill and Sue have fortunes in the region of $1.6 billion (£1.2bn) today.
American socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein is best known for two things: her penchant for plastic surgery, and the enormous divorce payout agreed with ex-husband Alec Wildenstein in 1999.
The pair met in 1977 on a safari in Kenya and eloped to Las Vegas in 1978. However, messy divorce proceedings began in 1997 after Alec allegedly aimed a gun at his wife when she found him with another woman.
Jocelyn is pictured here arriving at court for her divorce proceedings, alongside her new boyfriend.
The global press jumped on details of Alec and Jocelyn's divorce, which provided intriguing insights into the couple’s lifestyle. Jocelyn’s excessive spending at the time allegedly included an annual telephone bill of $60,000 and $547,000 spent on food and wine.
The divorce settlement came to $2.5 billion, the equivalent of $4.9 billion (£3.7bn) today. Jocelyn also received an additional $100 million annual payment for the following 13 years.
After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their decision to divorce in May 2021. Three months later, they officially separated but confirmed they would continue to run their eponymous charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as business partners.
According to Forbes, in 2022, Melinda Gates walked away with stock in various companies worth at least $6.2 billion (£4.7bn). Other sources claim the total settlement was much higher.
In the ensuing years, Melinda French Gates sold much of the stock to the tune of billions and is one of the most powerful women in philanthropy today. In 2024, she stepped down from her role as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Today, Forbes estimates her net wealth at $10.8 billion (£8.2bn). Meanwhile, ex-husband Bill has a fortune in the region of $133 billion (£100bn).
MacKenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos met while working at a hedge fund in New York, before founding the retail mammoth Amazon in their garage in 1994.
A quarter of a century later, their business may have been booming, but their marriage had irrevocably broken down. What followed is thought to be the most expensive divorce settlement of all time.
As part of their 2019 divorce settlement, Scott received 4% of Amazon stock. At the time, this was worth $35 billion but has rocketed in value following Amazon's success during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjusted for inflation however, that $35 billion is the equivalent of $43 billion (£32bn) in today's money.
Having divorced the world's richest man, Scott is currently worth $32.4 billion (£24.5bn) and has signed up to the Giving Pledge, an initiative for the super-wealthy to give away the majority of their money within their lifetime. So far, she's believed to have donated more than $16 billion ($12bn) to good causes. Meanwhile, ex-husband Jeff has a fortune in the region of $192 billion (£145bn).
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