Bezos to join exclusive club: The world's 10 most expensive divorce settlements

The world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, and his wife MacKenzie are the latest power couple to hit the marital skids.

The Amazon founder and his spouse announced on Wednesday they are parting ways after 25 years of marriage. The couple, who wed one year before the founding of the now giant retail company, reportedly do not have a prenuptial agreement.

Bezos, 54, is worth an estimated $136 billion and is the world's richest person, according to Forbes. His home state of Washington is one of the few remaining so-called "community property" states — where marital assets generally are divided equally — so his divorce settlement with his soon-to-be-ex, 48, promises to be one of the largest in history.

Here's a look at the 10 most expensive divorces to date.

Editor's note: The following listings have been reordered. The amounts do not reflect inflation.

Estimated settlement amount: $425 million

Mel Gibson reportedly handed over half of his $850 million fortune when his split with his wife of 31 years, Robyn, was finalized in December 2011. Robyn reportedly is entitled to half of Mel’s wealth, as well as any future residuals from his films.

Estimated settlement amount: $460 Million

The Seattle-area businessman was the founder of McCaw Cellular and Clearwire Corp. He split with former wife Wendy in 1998, just a few years after selling the McCaw Cellular to AT&T for between $11 billion and $12 billion. The settlement saw Wendy receive most of her $460 million payout in Nextel stock. The windfall allowed her to purchase the Santa-Barbara News-Press from The New York Times.

Estimated settlement amount: $604 Million

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and his ex-wife, businesswoman and socialite Elena Rybolovleva, separated after 26 years of marriage in 2008. Six years later, a Swiss court ordered Rybolovlev to pay his ex $4.8 billion. Rybolovleva's windfall was not to be, however; in 2015, the court in Geneva reversed its decision and reduced her award to 564 million Swiss Francs. The pair are said to have amicably reached a settlement in October 2015; terms were not disclosed but it's estimated Rybolovleva's final payout was just north of $600 million.

Estimated settlement amount: $741 million

In March 2010, Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn filed for divorce from wife Elaine and had to pay an estimated $741 million in Wynn Resorts stock. Now 76, Elaine Wiynn, a long-time member of Wynn's board, is the company's largest shareholder This was actually the second time that the couple divorced, the first being a five-year period starting in 1986, according to The New York Times.

Estimated settlement amount: $874 Million

Although they filed for divorce in 1974, it took Soraya Khashoggi until 1979 to sue — to the tune of $2.54 billion — her ex-husband, Saudi billionaire entrepreneur and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. In 1982, the couple agreed to a settlement that reportedly landed British-born Soraya (nee Sandra Daly) $874 million. At one time, Adnan, who died at age 81 in 2017, was estimated to be worth $4 billion, but lost his billionaire distinction in 2007. Soraya, 77, has claimed she never actually received any cash from Adnan and now apparently lives a modest life in London.

Estimated settlement amount: $974.8 million

In 2012, CEO Harold Hamm and wife Sue Ann Hamm filed for divorce after 24 years of marriage. The oilman had an estimated $11 billion prior to the filing. In 2014, Hamm, now 73, her 5 percent of his total net worth. He wrote her a check for $974,790,317.77 — which she reportedly promptly cashed.

Estimated settlement amount: $1.2 billion

The 2009 divorce between billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, now 88, and wife Slavica, a Croatia-born former model, was at the time thought to be the most expensive in history — in the range of $4 billion. However, the final settlement between Ecclestone and Slavica, now 60, is estimated by various reports to be in the range of $1 billion to $1.2 billion. The settlement has not been made public, but experts from across the globe believe the latter number is more realistic.

Estimated settlement amount: $1.7 billion

In 2013, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his former wife, Anna (now Anna Murdoch Mann) divorced. After a marriage of 32 years and three children together, the couple split in 1999. Under terms of the settlement, (which included $110 million in cash) went to Anna. Seventeen days after the divorce was finalized, Rupert wed Wendi Deng, 38 years his junior, while Anna married investor William Mann several months later. Murdoch and Deng divorced in 2013; in 2016, he wed former model Jerry Hall — his fourth marriage.

Estimated settlement amount: $3.8 billion

Art dealer Alec Wilderstein and New York socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein divorced in 1999, and she was entitled to $2.5 billion and an annual $100 million for 13 years, according to Reuters. Jocelyn Wildenstein, widely known for her many cosmetic surgery procedures, was instructed by a judge not to use her alimony payments for cosmetic surgery, according to Reuters. She is now 78; Alec Wildenstein died of cancer in 2008 at age 67.

Estimated settlement amount: As high as $68 billion

It remains to be seen how the divorce of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos plays out but, given his status as the wealthiest man in the world, it's a sure bet the eventual settlement will place the exes at the top of the pack for expensive splits. Even if Bezos, like Harold Hamm, was ordered to pay his ex-wife just 5 percent of his total net worth, that would land her as much as $6.8 billion — easily beating Jocelyn Wildenstein. But with gossip websites like TMZ reporting the couple do not have a prenuptial agreement, MacKenzie Bezos could end up with 10 times as much.

Correction: Entries were reordered because an earlier version did not account for inflation for all the amounts.