Jordan Divorce Most Costly Ever: Forbes

NEW YORK (AP) -- Divorce has its price - and no celeb, it appears, knows that better than Michael Jordan.

The basketball superstar's split last December from his wife of 17 years, Juanita, is No. 1 on Forbes.com's list of "The 10 Most Expensive Celebrity Divorces."

Juanita Jordan could possibly "get more than $150 million in a settlement, making the Jordan divorce the most expensive in entertainment history," Forbes said.

Neil Diamond, whose 1995 divorce from Marcia Murphey cost him an estimated $150 million, holds second place.

Steven Spielberg comes in third for paying his ex-wife Amy Irving an estimated $100 million, which was then half his fortune, when they divorced in 1989. The Oscar-winning director is now worth $3 billion.

Also making the list are estimated settlements between Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison ($85 million); Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva ($80 million); Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, whose divorce could cost him more than $60 million; James Cameron and Linda Hamilton ($50 million); Michael and Diandra Douglas ($45 million and two homes); Lionel and Diane Richie ($20 million); and Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall ($15 to $25 million).

Forbes said they researched divorces of the last 25 years in compiling the list, which was posted Thursday on its Web site.

What a ripoff! If she gets half of his assets, does she get half of all the points he scored in the NBA? What about three of his six championship rings?

I don't want to generalize, but the position that women take on divorce settlements is so hypocritical. They argue that they were an integral part of their husband's success and demand half of everything and, increasingly, a share of their ex's future earnings after divorce. If courts accept this argument, then they should consider it under all scenarios.

It's great if your husband was big CEO or rich athelete, but what if he was a corrupt CEO or white-collar crook who looted his company? What then? If women want to argue that they are essential to their husband's success, aren't they responsible for their failures?

This is nothing. I heard the former Mrs Abramovich got ~ 5 billions (don't recall the curency but who cars if it was euros/dollars or pounds?!).

Supposed to get... But will she?

Damn those are some high maintnance bitches.. lol

^ lol. I agree with Artist.

There is no such thing as justice. Unless some bitch is contributing by bringing in the same amount of money each year as does the husband, they should get no money for the divorce settlement. I agree with the earlier post, "does she get half of all the points he scored in the NBA?" This whole thing is stupid. It was his ass that worked hard for the money, not hers. The courts need to come up with a new procedure to determine how much money should be given in a divorce settlement. It takes a lot of hard work to and a lot of years to become a basketball superstar. Since his wife is no basketball superstar she shouldn't be getting the royal treatment kind of money.

Just my $.02.

^preach brother preach..
agree 100%

The procedure for determing asset division is simple. Take all the wealth that was accumulated during the years of marriage and, barring any extenuating circumstances, split them in half!

Unless it can be proven that the wife directly helped earn that wealth, I don't see why she should get anything close to half. The argument in these cases is that being a corporate wife is good enough to get a big settlement.

The only case I've seen where the wife arguably deserves half is one involving an American insurance company executive. She worked several jobs to finance her hubby's MBA and he was eventually able to turn that degree into a lucrative career. Then he left her for another woman. However, most divorce cases do not involve this level of sacrifice on the woman's side.