Google co-founder Sergey Brin, worth $93 billion, has filed for divorce from his wife of four years, citing “irreconcilable differences,” the New York Post reports.
As Brin is the 7th richest person in the world, the Post says this divorce, his second, could be one of the most expensive of all time, rivaling those of Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Elon Musk.
However, his wife, Nicole Shanahan, is a lawyer, and it is not known whether they have a prenup or how their property will be divided.
Secrecy
Secrecy of their divorce proceedings is evidently of utmost importance to Brin and Shanahan, whose legal divorce papers cite concern for the safety of their daughter, born after their marriage on Nov. 7, 2018.
Court documents from Brin’s lawyers read:
“Petitioner is a co-founder of Google and one of the wealthiest and most famous technology entrepreneurs in the world. Because of the high-profile nature of their relationship, there is likely to be significant public interest in their dissolution and child custody issues.
“Of great concern is that such publicity puts their minor child at risk of danger, harassment, and even kidnapping, if the specifics of their day-to-day whereabouts are exposed to the public.”
The couple has hired a “temporary judge” being paid $950 an hour, plus an additional $300 an hour for a legal assistant, to conduct “confidential binding arbitration [of] the property rights or obligations of the parties in accordance with a written agreement between the parties.”
Brin and Shanahan have both forfeited being awarded child support for their daughter, and have agreed to joint custody.
First Marriage Dissolution
Brin separated from his first wife, 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki, in 2013 when she discovered he was having an affair with 20-something Google Glass employee, Amanda Rosenberg.
In April 2013, Brin moved out of their mansion in Los Altos, California, where he was living with Wojicki and their two children.
They divorced in 2015, which was when Brin, now 48, began seeing Shanahan, now in her late 30s.
© 2023 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.