The chances of marriages falling apart through divorce continue to rise because of several reasons, including urbanization, money matters and infidelity, among others.
According to Forbes, 689,308 divorces took place in the United States in 2021 while 1,985,072 marriages were recorded. It shows that by far, more people get married than they divorce.
Furthermore, the average time before a divorce from the wedding day is about eight years.
What’s more, divorce affects people from all social classes. However, marriage break-ups that get global attention involve prominent personalities such as popular leaders, billionaires, and celebrities.
Here are some divorce cases that shook the world.
Bill and Melinda Gates Divorce
The power couple that had been in marriage for three decades divorced in May 2021. Bill and Melind announced that they were going to part ways and formalized their divorce later in August that year.
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The two got married in Lanai, Hawaii, in January 1994. They had three children together: Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. They however carried on with their joint foundations that had been in existence in what they said is ”…to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”
They divorced on grounds of untrustworthiness saying in a statement that they no longer believed they could grow together as a couple in this next phase of their lives.
According to Forbes, Bill Gates is the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $104 billion.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian
Famous rapper Kanye West and ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians” star Kim Kardashian had a bitter split in 2021 after almost 7 years of marriage.
The two had amassed $2.1 billion worth of assets in their time together.
Kanye and Kim Kardashian had signed a prenuptial agreement in 2014 before their wedding but struggled with legal tussles involving their assets.
Kim accused West of his behavior mentioning that she didn’t like his tweeting behavior. She also said that Kanye had given her all the massive things in life, and she was yearning for ‘smaller things’.
Consequently, the duo formalized their divorce in November 2022 and took joint physical and legal custody of their four children.
Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott
Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos and his former wife Mackenzie Scott ended their marriage in 2021. Following the break-up, the wife walked away with a whopping $38.3 billion in Amazon stock.
Amid many speculations, details of reasons for the breakup remained scanty and the two chose to keep it private. Forbes ranks Bezos as the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $114 billion.
Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin
Sylvester Stallone’s wife, Jennifer Flavin Stallone filed for divorce in August 2022 ending their 25 years marriage.
However, they later halted their divorce proceedings and decided to reconcile.
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In her divorce petition, Flavin accused Stallone of intentionally wasting their marital assets, an accusation that he denied.
The couple married in May 1997 in London and have three daughters.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
The two Hollywood stars divorced in 2016 after staying together for 11 years and in marriage for 2 years.
In addition, they cited irreconcilable differences and had six children, Maddox, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara, and twins Vivienne and Knox.
Even after applying for physical custody, the two have since been involved in unending battles.
