Divorce is never cheap. For us regular folks, it’s lawyer bills, splitting the couch, and arguing over who gets the cat. But when billionaires split? We’re talking price tags that make your jaw hit the floor. Bill Gates handed Melinda a cool $25 billion. Jeff Bezos? His ex walked away with $36 billion in Amazon stock.
And then there’s Donald Trump. For all his years on the Forbes list and his love of gold-plated everything, Trump’s divorces didn’t come close to those sky-high payouts. But don’t get it twisted—he still had to shell out plenty, especially when he was going through one of the roughest financial patches of his life.
Ivana Trump: The “Billion Dollar Blowup” That Wasn’t
Donald and Ivana’s marriage was tabloid fodder long before reality TV existed. They tied the knot in 1977, built a brand together, had three kids, and then it all imploded in 1990 when Ivana discovered he was having an affair. Cue headlines like “Trump vs. Trump: Billion Dollar Blowup.”
So, how much did Ivana actually walk away with? Thanks to a prenup (and Trump’s not-so-rosy bank account at the time), the numbers weren’t nearly as outrageous as you’d think:
- $14 million in cash (that’s about $32 million today)
- A sprawling Connecticut estate
- A Trump Plaza apartment
- The right to spend one month a year at Mar-a-Lago
- Around $650,000 a year in child support
Not exactly pocket change, but compared to Bezos-level divorce money, it’s practically bargain-bin.
Marla Maples: The Discount Divorce
If Ivana’s settlement was a “big one,” Trump’s second divorce was more like the clearance rack. He married Marla Maples—his former mistress—in 1993, and by then he was billions in debt. So, guess what? That prenup was tighter than Fort Knox.
When they split in 1999, Marla got:
- About $2 million total (half of it earmarked for a house)
- $100,000 a year in child support for their daughter Tiffany until she turned 21
Yep, that’s it. To put it in perspective, that’s less than what some Hollywood celebs spend on a wedding dress.
And What About Melania?
As for Melania, Trump’s current wife, there’s no public record of any settlements—because, well, they’re still married. But given Trump’s history, you can bet that prenup is locked, sealed, and probably notarized six ways from Sunday.
So, What Did We Learn?
Here’s the takeaway:
- Trump’s divorces cost him millions, but nowhere near billionaire-scale billions.
- Prenups saved him a fortune.
- The emotional price tags? Probably bigger than the financial ones—Ivana admitted her ex’s affair left “deep scars,” and Marla has called the media frenzy around their breakup “heart-ripping.”
At the end of the day, Donald’s settlements were pricey, sure, but they weren’t life-ruining. And compared to Bezos or Gates? Let’s just say his exes didn’t exactly hit the divorce jackpot.
