 "Most expensive divorce cases in the world that surprised people")
Divorces can be expensive affairs. For the ultra rich, the money involved can be in millions, or even billions of dollars. Here, we list out some extraordinary divorce cases around the world which attracted significant media attention and involved humongous amounts of alimony.
Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza
When the former Pakistan cricket team captain Shoaib Malik married for the third time to a Pakistani TV actress Sana Javed, people were shocked. Even though, the rumours of divorce between Shoaib Malik and his second wife Sania Mirza were still around. However, Sania's family later confirmed that she had given ‘Khula,’ which is a unilateral divorce in Islamic faith. Now, the next big question was the amount that Shoaib will pay to Sania post-divorce. The net worth of Sani Mirza is 216 crore while Shoaib Malik's net worth is 230 crore, making it one of the most high-profile divorces that shocked people.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp
Another high-profile divorce case that attracted media attention involved former Hollywood actor-couple, Amber Heard and Johnny Deep who were married for 15 months. Heard reportedly received 7 million dollars for divorce settlement and she donated that amount to charity.
Both Heard and Depp accused each other of domestic abuse and the ex-couple spent most of their time in 2020 and 2021 battling a case against The Sun newspaper that called Depp a 'wife-beater'. Depp lost that case and appealed.
Heard and Depp again came back to court in 2022 for a defamation case filed by Depp against Heard for an op-ed piece she wrote in the Washington Post in 2018. In that article, Heard wrote about him and the domestic abuses she felt without mentioning Depp. The court found that Heard defamed Depp and asked her to pay $15 million for damages, later reduced to $10.35 million. Later, she filed a countersuit and she won that case and was given 2 million dollars. Both Heard and Depp appealed again and Heard said that she had settled the case with her ex-husband and eventually she had to pay $1 million which Depp donated to charity.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and Princess Haya bint al-Hussein
Another high-profile divorce case was between Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Dubai's wealthy ruler, and his ex-wife Princess Haya bint al-Hussein in December 2021.
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According to CNN, Sheikh Mohammed was asked to pay a whopping $728 million to her to cover security costs for the rest of her life as well as the ongoing cost of the couple's two children, Al Jalila Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Sheikh Zayed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The divorce was not easy as Mohammed was accused of alleged affairs and threats that's why the divorce took years.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates
Microsoft co-founder, billionaire, and philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife Melinda French Gates separated on May 2, 2021, which was surprising for everyone. The former couple was married for 27 long years. The reports state that the court documents said that the ex-couple had a private separation agreement and they did not have a prenuptial. On their divorce, the ex-couple issued a statement that they would run their foundation together, called the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation is over $40 million. According to reports, Bill Gates' worth is over 130.5 billion dollars. Together, Bill and Melinda owned properties worth millions of dollars. They are parents of three children.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
American singer-songwriter and actress Madonna's divorce from her ex-husband Guy Ritchie was one of the most expensive ones in the world. The ex-couple married in 2000 and later got divorced in 2008. The report claims that Madonna paid between $76 million to $92 million. But the duo was also engaged in the custody battle for their son, Rocco.
Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon and American novelist-philanthropist Mackenzie Scott announced their divorce in April 2019. Considering that Bezos was the richest man in June 2018, his divorce in 2019 was an expensive one. Reports claim that Jeff gave Mackenzie $36 billion after the finalisation of the divorce, this amount made Scott one of the richest women in the world. She gave away $1.7 billion to charity by June 2020 and continues to donate this amount to NGOs.