Most folks in Colorado have probably heard horror stories of wealthy couples in divorce court. Recriminations and back-and-forth allegations can abound, and many suspect that each spouse is simply trying to grab as big a slice of the marital property as possible. Recently, however, the marriage of one high-profile couple hit the headlines not for any acrimony involved in their divorce but rather the apparent harmony.
Bill Ackman is a big-time investor, and his wife Karen Ann Herskovitz is a landscape architect. Their combined worth has been estimated to be at least $1.6 billion. On December 22, the two reportedly informed their friends via email that they have separated. They described their split as amicable, according to reports, and they expressed a desire to minimize the impact of the separation on their daughters.
A source was reported as saying that the breakup was not the result of infidelity but of simply growing apart after 22 years of marriage. The source said that the couple planned to make it a “very generous” divorce due to the longstanding nature of the couple’s relationship.
Generally speaking, a divorce without acrimony is better than one with acrimony. If an affluent couple can agree on an asset division and on other hot-button issues, so much the better. But not all divorces work this way, and some divorces start off amicably but go sour in an instant. This can especially be the case when business assets, real estate and other big-ticket items are up for grabs. Either way, a spouse involved in such a divorce will want to make sure their best interests are being looked out for.
Source: Page Six, “Billionaire investor Bill Ackman and wife in ‘big-money divorce’,” Emily Smith, Dec. 22, 2016