Friday, February 22, 2013

A Heck of a Divorce Settlement


The 1951 B-52 Bomber The Was Part of Porfirio's Divorce Settlement 

In 1951, Porfirio Rubirosa divorced from the enormously wealthy Doris Duke. Doris, who had inherited $100 million from her father at age 12, was called 'The world's richest girl' and had a supreme net worth of over $1.3 billion ($11 billion today). Rubirosa's settlement included more than $11 million(in cash), a NYC apartment, a french chateau in Paris, a stable full of polo ponies, 15 different sports cars, B-52 Bomber, a fishing fleet off Africa and $25,000 annually until remarriage. It was said to be one of the most expensive divorce settlements in America. 

6 comments:

  1. the picture you posted is of a B-36....the only one in private hands
    flying belongs to the commemorative air force
    probably Rubirosa was given a B-25 which was commonly converted
    to business use after WWII
    enjoy your site!
    BT

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  2. Mr. Rubirosa was well known in society circles for his enormous . . . talent.

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  3. $11 million is crazy money even today, but figuring in the 15 sports cars and the fishing fleet... wow! Though considering how Doris Duke lived her life, and having allegedly paid Rubirosa's first wife $1 million just to agree to an uncontested divorce, I think their settlement didn't mean much for her.

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  4. Those were the days, huh? Stuff like this actually still happens, and yes it would be quite a win to get yourself a B-52 soon as you get stuck in one of those cases. It would help though, for majority of the real world scenarios, if the complainant gets it all in one fell swoop instead of time periods, which is usually the case. Whether the payout is a freight plane or cash to send the kids to school. One doesn't really know what will happen in the interim, so at least recipients should be assured of their much deserved money instead of flailing in uncertainty before the next pay date.

    Marty Granoff

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  5. Proud of my compatriot friend rubirosa you did make a name for the dominican republic.

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