Billionaire Divorce 2022… end of life or tax game?

The world’s wealthy community in 2022 has had its share of strange events, perhaps the most notable of which is the divorce of billionaires and socialites. So what are the reasons behind it?

“Bitcoin” … and the brilliance of the battle for the divorce of the rich

In February 2022, a journalistic survey conducted by the American newspaper “The New York Times” revealed that cryptocurrencies made it to the list of the most prominent reasons for disputes between spouses when they reached the stage of property division during divorce cases, as some deliberately hid their holdings digital currencies on the other hand.

The investigation dealt with the story of the divorce of an American couple, the litigation lasted 8 years, that is, almost as long as the marriage lasts, and a wealthy couple from San Francisco disputed child support, the profit from the sale of the software company owned by the husband and the fate of their house worth 3.6 million dollars.

But the most significant court battle between Erica and Francis de Souza involved a heated dispute over millions of dollars that went missing in bitcoin.

The pair also transferred approximately $225,000 in cryptocurrency to other anonymous addresses, and a review of his tax returns showed he did not report spending the cryptocurrency or convert it into dollars.

The report concludes that “plaintiff either neglected to report the sale or shipment of the missing cryptocurrency on his income tax returns,” or “plaintiff still retained control of the missing cryptocurrency.”

D’Souza bought just over 1,000 bitcoins before divorcing his wife in 2013, then lost almost half of his money when a well-known cryptocurrency exchange collapsed. After 3 years of litigation, a San Francisco appeals court ruled in 2020 that D’Souza failed to properly disclose some elements of his cryptocurrency investments, and the court ordered him to give his ex-wife more than $6 million of his remaining bitcoin.

D’Souza’s case epitomizes a new pattern of bitcoin-based matrimonial disputes becoming more common, with cryptocurrencies gaining acceptance, and the division of family shares becoming a major source of contention as estranged couples trade accusations of fraud and financial mismanagement.

Divorce settlement worth $1.7 billion

In April 2022, David Beckham and his wife Victoria Beckham celebrated the wedding of their son Brooklyn Beckham in Florida, in a lavish ceremony at the home of the bride, Nicole Peltz.

Brooklyn Beckham performed the wedding ceremony with Nicola Peltz in front of family and friends, in the presence of several guests and celebrities, among whom Serena Williams and Eva Longoria stood out.

And Brooklyn Beckham signed a prenuptial agreement with his bride, Nicola Peltz, which regulated the division of the $1.7 billion fortune in the event of a divorce.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his wife are separating

And last June, the New York Times reported that media mogul Rupert Murdoch and actress Jerry Hall were about to divorce.

It is interesting that the wealth of 91-year-old Murdoch is approximately 18 billion dollars, and he gave his ex-wife 1.7 billion dollars during the settlement of the divorce case.

Protecting Deb from Amber Heard Fraud

Also in June 2022, international artist Johnny Depp won a verdict in a defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Hurd, with the jury initially awarding $15 million in damages to him and $2 million to Hurd in damages.

And the jury returned to reduce the amount of compensation for “Depp” to $10.4 million.

Meanwhile, Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages but no punitive damages, a far cry from the $100 million she sought in her counterclaim.

The compensation amounts are intended to compensate the claimant who suffered real losses, including future earnings.

Punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant for his tort and deter him from repeating the same violation again.

Billionaire Mackenzie Scott’s second divorce

And in September 2022, billionaire Mackenzie Scott divorced her second husband, former science teacher Dan Jewett, less than two years after their wedding.

News of the divorce, first reported by The New York Times, comes as Scott continues to donate his fortune at a rapid rate to nonprofits and other foundations, without strings attached.

Scott is currently one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists and was previously married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for 25 years until their divorce in 2019.

The New York Times reported that Jewett’s name has been removed from public documents related to Scott’s charitable work, and that she no longer appears in Scott’s Medium posts describing her donations.

His message about the giving vow, a commitment to give away most of one’s wealth during one’s lifetime, has been removed from the website, along with a photo of him with Scott.

$200,000… monthly pocket money for Kim Kardashian

For her part, American reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her ex-husband, Kanye West, divorced in November 2022, almost two years after Kardashian filed for divorce in February 2021.

Long after Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from rapper Kanye West, the American reality TV star and her ex-husband have finally reached a divorce settlement, which includes Kardashian getting $200,000 a month in child support to take care of their four children.

John Paulson.. and hidden billions due to divorce

Billionaire John Paulson, the founder of hedge fund Paulson & Co., is seeking to drop a lawsuit filed by his wife, Jenny, who accuses him of shielding billions of dollars in assets from their divorce, claiming she was involved in a “money grab.”

Both Paulsons appeared in a cramped Manhattan courtroom Thursday morning for scheduled hearings on his motion to dismiss her case.

In court filings, attorneys for John Paulson, 66, deny that he hid assets from her. They say Jenica Paulson knew all along about the funds she claims he used to hide assets because they were included in nearly two joint tax returns she signed.

The founder of Paulson & Associates said in court documents: “The joint tax returns were approved by Mrs. Paulson and identified the trust funds by name, thereby refuting any claim that the trusts were established ‘in secret’ to defraud Mrs. Paulson or to deny her an equitable distribution of what would have been marital property.” origin.

John Paulson has a net worth of $4.6 billion and the family has a rich portfolio of real estate investments.