Brangelina: Who’ll get what?
LONDON: Speculation was growing this week about how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would divide their £300 million (R5.3 billion) fortune.
They have amassed a huge empire during their 12-year romance, including at least five properties around the world, two film companies and an award-winning vineyard.
Pitt is worth around £180m and has successfully reinvented himself as a film producer, while Jolie’s own production company has failed to make an impact.
Jolie, whose fortune is valued at around £120m, has not requested financial support, but she has hired Laura Wasser, Hollywood’s top divorce lawyer, suggesting she is preparing for a fight.
Since marrying in 2014, the couple have earned a combined £90m before tax, with Pitt banking around £58m from films such as Fury, The Big Short and the forthcoming World War Z 2. He has earned £31.5m this year alone.
Among the couple’s property portfolio is the family home in Los Feliz, Los Angeles – a £3.8m compound, which Pitt bought in 1994. They also have a £3.8m home near Santa Barbara, California. In 2006, they bought a £2.6m, 1930s mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A year later, they bought a flat in New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Their best-known property is Chateau Miraval, a £50m, 405 hectare estate close to the French Riviera. With a 30ha vineyard, it includes several homes with a total of 35 bedrooms, and was bought in 2008. Jolie owns a New York flat.
They are thought to have a pre-nuptial agreement stating that assets earned before the marriage remain with the person who acquired them.