Recent news of a split between Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez has sparked intense speculation after The New York Post’s Page Six reported that the wedding couple is no longer an affair.
Shortly after the bombshell report, the pair released a joint (albeit vague) statement saying that they “are working on some things”. Still, the questions are about the couple’s enormous wealth and commercial endeavors, and how they would be divided even if the A-listers are not formally married.
Lopez and Rodriguez invested in several projects together over the course of their 4-year union, including health care company Hims and Hers (HIMS), which recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange and earned the couple $ 79 million.
In addition, the couple invested $ 11 million in the Super Coffee brand and owns two homes together in New York City and Miami. The Florida property, located in the gated community on Star Island, is worth about $ 33 million, according to several reports.
“Even if the parties are not legally married, it is still a divorce – a business divorce,” explained Leslie Barbara, chairman of the divorce and family law group at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron.
“The rules are a little different, but a divorce of its own kind,” she told Yahoo Finance.
‘Shareholder agreement’ of a different type
So how would a “business divorce” impact the star’s lucrative finances? According to New York writer and divorce attorney Dror Bikel, the couple would still be able to keep their investments in Hims and Hers and Super Coffee – even if they eventually decided to split up.
“Whether they are a couple or not doesn’t matter,” said Bikel.
However, if they decide to divest and clear their assets completely, they would be “subject to the same shareholder agreement that everyone else has”, which normally includes the initial investment plus any appreciation.
Their properties would be managed in a slightly different way, although it is likely that they entered into an operating contract at the time of sale. For contextual purposes, an operational agreement is a contract that defines the ownership, rights and responsibilities of each party.
“It is very common and these two individuals are financially experienced, so this is more likely to be the case,” explained Bikel.
And since they are not married, dividing their assets “is very easy – they have contracts and operational agreements that talk about all of this. There are no problems with children or equitable distribution, no problems of support for children or spouse and, in terms of investments, nothing will be very impacted ”, he concluded.
Davidoff Hutcher’s Barbara repeated these thoughts, saying that “the most basic thing for any divorce is to identify, evaluate and divide assets,” she said.
The big question here is whether all of these shared entities survive? “Asked Bárbara, adding that the couple has options if they decide to split up, how to dissolve part or all of their assets or even buy the other part.
‘THEgo names are worth a lot of money ‘
Both Lopez and Rodriguez are worth millions of dollars on their own, with Lopez’s net worth estimated at $ 400 million for the last time, while Rodriguez stands at around $ 350 million.
“There are a high number of bets here – what they are worth, the absolute monetary investments at stake. They will need very sophisticated lawyers to navigate this,” said Barbara.
According to Bikel, “Your names are worth a lot of money, so generally, when you’re dealing with such a big brand, you don’t want to stain it. You don’t want information out there that they mistreated or that someone cheated because they they’re trying to sell a product, it makes it less attractive. If there’s infidelity or abuse, it would be in your interest not to bring it up, because ultimately it will hurt both individual brands. ”
Celebrity divisions, especially those with rumors of infidelity, often become bitter. The lawyer suggested that a complicated separation would not be in the interest of either party.
“I hope they stay together and, if they don’t, it is better that the separation is clean and without much hostility,” concluded Bikel.
Alexandra is an Entertainment Producer and Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on twitter @ alliecanal8193
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