Tycoon must pay wife £3.5m a year during divorce case

A BILLIONAIRE who co-owns New York’s Chrysler Building has been ordered to pay his estranged wife £3.5million a year amid an ongoing High Court divorce battle.

Michael Fuchs, 62, who hails from Germany but moved to the US in the 1990s, is embroiled in a high-stakes row over money with his ex-wife, Alvina Collardeau-fuchs, a 46-year-old former journalist originally from France.

Mr Fuchs, a property developer with a fortune estimated at £1.2 billion, married Ms Collardeau-fuchs in New York in 2012 and the couple had two children before separating in March 2020.

However, their separation prompted acrimonious legal proceedings, with Mr Fuchs seeking to “pull the shutters down” on her life and expenses, according to court documents.

At the Family Division of the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Mostyn concluded that Mr Fuchs’ “overall liability” would amount to “an approximate annual rate of £3.64 million” until a final decision on settlement is made.

The High Court judge said Mr Fuchs had owned a “significant amount of prime mid-town Manhattan real estate” before marrying Ms Collardeau-fuchs.

He said the couple “would spend a great deal of time travelling, typically by private plane or first-class commercial flights, and staying in high-end hotels or villas at significant cost”.

Mr Justice Mostyn said they had shared a home in London, where Ms Collardeau-fuchs still lives, and that the property has six floors, five bedrooms and an underground swimming pool and, historically, a “retinue of staff” including a laundress.

There was also a villa in Antibes, France, and a penthouse in Miami.

Prior to marrying, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement whereby Mr Fuchs providing his ex-wife with net capital of £23.5 million plus 18 years of rent-free accommodation at the west London property .

However, following their separation Ms Collardeau-fuchs complained that Mr Fuchs “almost immediately reduced the provision he was making for her”.

He also denies her claim that he failed to make the payments of various ongoings on time.

The final hearing is on Oct 10.