By Robert Frank
Nothing shines a light on the personal finances of the wealthy quite like divorce. Consider the acrimonious de-merger of billionaire value-fund manager Charles Brandes and Linda Brandes.The couple divorced in 2005, after she accused him of keeping a “lady in waiting” and he accused her of losing interest in him. According to a detailed account of the divorce by Peter Rowe in the The San Diego Union-Tribune, the couple lived extra-large both before and after their split.
Consider:
* The couple owned six homes–including a $4 million home in Rancho Santa Fe and a penthouse in Manhattan–and had two more under construction. The total value of the homes was more than $40 million.
* At one home, Ms. Brandes began a landscape renovation that cost $1,365,130, not including tile work.
* Mr. Brandes owned 10 Ferraris (valued at more than $4.4 million) and an “extremely long driveway” to race sports cars, dirt bikes and ATVs.
* She had gambling bills of as much as $30,000 a month.
* Mr. Brandes paid Elton John somewhere from $1 million to $1.5 million to perform at his wedding when he remarried in 2006. He paid Christina Aguilera $1 million to perform at a Halloween party.
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2011/01/25/when-6-million-a-year-isnt-enough/
