It’s been a very long time since former Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie met during the filming of the action-comedy “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” eventually deciding to get married in real life. And it’s been more than eight years since Jolie filed for divorce, but now the Daily Mail reports it’s finally reached a conclusion and Jolie is now some $80 million richer than she was at the time of their split.
The couple is not one of those who entered into a marriage without a prenuptial agreement, a common enough procedure in Hollywood. Their prenup, signed before their marriage in 2014, basically stated that both Jolie and Pitt would keep any assets they held individually (which were substantial in both cases, as they were both top-billed movie stars at the time of the marriage), splitting any “joint capital” down the line. But that proved to be somewhat more complicated than anticipated, with their divorce battle stretching out across several years, including over custody of their six children (Jolie now has sole custody). Then there’s their formerly jointly owned Chateau Miraval chateau and vineyard (with its accompanying wine label), which is still the subject of a court battle between the two despite the completion of their divorce.
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The web of assets between Pitt and Jolie grew quite tangled even after they split up. In 2018, Pitt loaned his ex $8 million in order for her to purchase a mansion in Los Angeles, where she still lives. A source told the Daily Mail, “Jolie will be repaying the $8 million house loan by January 31,” although it isn’t clear whether that is an official term of their divorce. Jolie also sold a rare landscape painting by statesman Winston Churchill that she got as a gift from Pitt during happier times for $11.5 million, but her biggest business move in the last decade has undoubtedly been the sale of her stake in the aforementioned Château Miraval for $64 million, despite how a source from Pitt’s camp told the Daily Mail it was purchased by the two of them with a different intention:
“They purchased Miraval with the intent of keeping it 100 percent in the family…They were going to hand this down for their children so that one day they could run the business, and it would provide all of them a lucrative and stable future.”
Those big sales are where that $80 million figure is coming from, both happening after Jolie filed for divorce and (presumably) not likely to have occurred if the two had stayed together.
Now, both actors and entrepreneurs have released statements about their gratitude that the divorce proceedings are over and they can get on with the rest of their lives.