A billionaire’s ex-wife has slammed a “humiliating and degrading” divorce offer worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Jenny Paulson, ex-wife of hedge fund manager John Paulson, insists she deserves half of her ex’s $4.7 billion fortune.
In an email obtained by Page sixPaulson wrote that her ex-partner’s offer after 24 years of marriage was “too degrading” and criticized plans to reward her daughters more than her.
“In my heart and spirit I feel like I deserve a 50/50 split,” she wrote, “60/40 is fine because there have been other similar divorce settlements.”
Much of Paulson’s anger stems from the fact that she would earn far less than the couple’s two children through the arrangement.
Jenny Paulson, ex-wife of billionaire John Paulson (pictured together before their split) criticized a “humiliating and degrading” divorce offer worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Much of Paulson’s anger stems from the fact that she would earn far less than the couple’s two daughters through the arrangement. In the photo: the family in August 2021.
Paulson, 68, is currently engaged to his new fiancée Alina de Almeida, 35, following his split from the mother of his children.
“The idea that I should receive less than children is humiliating and degrading because that is the message it gives to the world and to my own daughters,” she said. “You don’t give the person the dignity of being your partner.”
He claimed that his ex was only offering five percent of the wealth accumulated during their marriage.
However, he responded that his offer would still make her one of the richest women in America.
The investor made money betting against the housing market before the 2008 crash.
Sources told Page Six that their offer would net Paulson hundreds of millions of dollars up front, and more over time.
They would then divide their properties and assets, including their extensive property portfolio, which includes properties in Aspen and the Hamptons.
The couple separated in 2021 and began private divorce proceedings that failed, as the 2022 email shows.
In the messages, Paulson referred to a “secret network” of trusts created as a “trick” used to “control” her.
Jenny Paulson, ex-wife of hedge fund manager John Paulson, says she deserves half of her ex’s $4.7 billion fortune
Almeida became engaged to Paulson in the midst of the bitter divorce battle.
Paulson has two homes in Manhattan, a 28,500-square-foot townhouse on the Upper East Side and a 26th-floor condo on Fifth Avenue.
She was furious that the proposed settlement would allow her ex-husband to “retain control of the trusts and money.” It’s degrading and I feel sick to my stomach from the humiliation.
After criticizing the “disrespectful, shameful and humiliating” offers, he promised to take the matter to court.
“Litigation can last years and be very expensive, but I do it for my daughters, who look up to me and one day will be wives and mothers like me,” Paulson said.
The billionaire’s team previously responded by claiming that the trusts were created two decades ago to protect children, but that Paulson is trying to keep the assets for himself.
They claim breaking up the trusts would cost children $1 billion in taxes.
“Not only was Jenny offered hundreds of millions of dollars in a divorce settlement, but John previously offered to request that the trustees remove future spouses and children as beneficiaries of the trust,” one of her attorneys said.
‘She flatly rejected the offer. Therefore, her argument that she is opening the trusts to protect her children is absolutely false.’
Robert S. Cohen, Paulson’s lawyer, responded: ‘This is typical of Mr. Paulson. He appears to prefer to use children in the media, with false accusations against Ms. Paulson, as a weapon to intimidate her and force her to give up her right to a day in court under the rule of law.
Paulson announced their engagement around the same time the couple hosted a fundraiser at their Palm Beach mansion attended by Donald Trump and his wife Melania.
The Palm Beach mansion where Trump’s fundraiser was held is the crown jewel in Paulson’s massive real estate portfolio.
—You know that New York State law gives Mrs. Paulson the right to an equitable distribution of the assets accumulated during her marriage. However, in fact, all Mr. Paulson has offered to Mrs. Paulson is an “assignment.” That is a fact.’
He joked that the billionaire could be ‘cash shortage as a result of having bet much of his money on expensive parties and large donations to aid Mr. Trump’s presidential ambitions’ in reference to a recent fundraiser he held for the White House hopeful at his Florida house.
The event was hosted by Paulson, 68, and his new fiancée Alina de Almeida, 35.
The couple got engaged while he was still stuck in the acrimonious divorce process.