John and Jenny Paulson to Divorce in Latest Billionaire Split
(Bloomberg) — John and Jenny Paulson are divorcing after more than 20 years of marriage, the latest split involving a billionaire family that’s set to reshape one of the world’s largest self-made fortunes.
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John Paulson, 65, is worth $4.8 billion thanks largely to his successful bet against the U.S. housing market prior to the 2008 financial crisis. The money manager also placed about $1.9 billion into the Paulson Family Foundation as of 2019.
The case has been filed in Suffolk County, New York, with John Paulson represented by William D. Zabel. The New York Post, which earlier reported the divorce, said there’s no pre-nuptial agreement, citing an unidentified source.
A spokesman for John Paulson didn’t immediately return a call for comment. Zabel didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail and an email seeking comment.
Paulson made $20 billion for himself and investors when U.S. subprime mortgage bonds collapsed and ignited the global financial crisis. After pulling off one of the greatest trades in history, he had a series of less successful years. He turned his hedge fund firm into a family office last year after assets dropped to about $9 billion in 2019 from a peak of $38 billion in 2011 and he found himself managing mostly his own money.
While this could be one of the largest divorces in history in terms of assets at stake, it’s still dwarfed by two recent breakups. Melinda French Gates has received billions of dollars of stock in a variety of companies after her divorce from Bill Gates, while Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Jeff Bezos, is the world’s fourth-richest woman.
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