Billion dollar $plit
BILLIONAIRE activist investor Bill Ackman and his wife, Karen Ann Herskovitz, have split after 25 years and are heading for a big-money divorce, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
The swaggering, tennis-loving Pershing Square founder, worth an estimated $1.6 billion, and his landscape architect wife began telling friends via e-mail on Thursday that they have separated.
The e-mail reads: “It saddens us to share that after 25 years together, we are separating. It is an amicable split, and we are making sure that we minimize the impact on our girls. We value your friendship and greatly appreciate your support.”
Sources say things between the couple, who married at the St. Regis in 1994 and have three daughters, remain civil. And while no divorce filing has yet been made, lawyers have been hired to reach a quick settlement, which, sources say, could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
One friend told Page Six, “It’s no secret that Bill is a workaholic. When he’s not working, he’s playing tennis. Bill and Karen are devoted to their girls but grew apart. There’s no one else. They’ve been together forever, since he was broke, so this will be a very generous divorce.”
The silver-haired, silver-tongued investor, who famously bet against Herbalife, has had a tough year — his firm is down roughly 12.4 percent. But he remains bold, and earlier this month won big on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose stocks have more than doubled since the presidential election. Ackman recently took a large stake in troubled chain Chipotle.
Up for grabs in the divorce is an immense portfolio of property. In 2014, Ackman — who has said Damian Lewis’ “Billions” character Bobby Axelrod is based on him — bought the $90 million trophy penthouse at the glittering new One57, which he described as “the Mona Lisa of apartments” and “bought for fun.” He and his family reside in a $35 million apartment in the Beresford off Central Park West. They also have a waterfront estate in Bridgehampton, bought in 2011 for $22 million, plus a second $23.5 manse nearby.
A spokesman for Ackman didn’t comment.