Michael Jordan’s divorce is set to cost him $168 million. Yes, you did read that correctly, Michael Jordan will be paying his ex wife, Juanita, $168 million dollars to finalize the divorce.
As A basketball superstar, Michael Jordan was always in a league of his own.
Now he is setting a record with his divorce as he prepares to pay his former
wife an unprecedented settlement of more than $168m (£80m).
Last December, when Jordan, 44, and his wife Juanita, 48, split up, the
athlete balked at signing the settlement. Insiders claim that negotiations
have added £20m to the final deal.
The final severance package for Juanita Jordan, which includes the couple’s
seven-acre estate in Chicago and custody of their three children, is
expected to be agreed before the first anniversary of their last row – which
was said to be about money.
The settlement eclipses the most expensive celebrity divorce on public record,
in which Neil Diamond paid his ex-wife Marcia Murphey £75m. After licking
his wounds, the singer, who had married the television production assistant
before he became famous, won plaudits for his chivalrous verdict. “She’s
worth every penny,” he said.
It makes other high-profile divorces, such as Steven Spielberg’s £50m
separation from his first wife, the actress Amy Irving, and Sir Mick
Jagger’s £12m farewell to Jerry Hall, seem like bargains. Sir Paul
McCartney’s pending settlement with Heather Mills has been mooted at £50m.
Earlier reports that Juanita received $150 in the Jordan’s divorce seem to have understimated the final pay-off:
Jordan said he and his ex-wife were open with their children about their marital difficulties.
"We have all different types of dialogues, even with all of us in the same room," the 44-year-old Jordan said.
Juanita, 48, a South Side native, could not be reached for comment.
Earlier this year, Forbes magazine estimated that Juanita Jordan,
who was married to Jordan for 17 years, received as much as $150
million in the December 2006 split.
As The Times reported, that year’s delay seems to have added $20 million to the divorce bill for MJ.
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