There’s nothing usual about the divorce case between billionaire
hedge fund manager Ken Griffin and his wife, Anne Dias Griffin. First
of all, Ken Griffin is the wealthiest man in Illinois; secondly, their
case was settled a day after a public trial over their prenuptial agreement
was set to begin. If continued to go on, the trial over the prenup would
go seven days, followed by a trial in November and December over child
support, and another trial in January over custody and visitation.
But a hidden gem was that while we continued to read the story, we were
struck by the honesty that came from the mouths of the people involved.
Also refreshing were the comments from people outside of the case who
had some real-world thoughts about what the couple, and specifically Mr.
Griffin, might be going through after losing billions of dollars. According
to the Sun-Times:
“New York divorce attorney James P. Joseph, one of many lawyers who
represented Patricia Duff in her bitter and very public divorce from leveraged
buyout billionaire Ronald Perelman in the late 1990s, said the inevitable
media attention on high-profile cases is "horrible" for wealthy
former couples and adds "an incredible amount of pressure" at
an emotionally difficult time for both the litigants and their children.”
Joseph goes on to discuss the role that digital media plays in what amounts
to be a futile exercise in keeping your kids hidden from the mess that
is a very public divorce. But most tellingly is this kicker at the end
of the article that really hit home how screwed up a situation this must
be for everyone, but especially Mr. Griffin.
Joseph said that such cases are common on Wall Street, and that when he
has a wealthy male client, "I push them very hard to be in therapy
... I tell them that there's a lot coming that they're not used
to dealing with."
For more:
Ken Griffin, Illinois' richest man, settles contentious divorce case
(Chicago Sun-Times)
Image via Wikimedia.