Extreme wealth does not seem conducive to a happy marriage.

1 Jeff Bezos $191.0 B age 57 Amazon - divorced
2 Bernard Arnault & family $181.7 B age 72 LVMH - divorced
3 Elon Musk $165.7 B age 49 Tesla, SpaceX- divorced
4 Bill Gates $130.5 B age 65 Microsoft - soon to be divorced
5 Mark Zuckerberg $114.3 B age 36 Facebook - married since 2012
6 Warren Buffett $106.8 B age 90 Berkshire Hathaway - did not live together for more than half of his marriage
7 Larry Ellison $103.8 B age 76 software - divorced 4 times
8 Larry Page $100.9 B age 48 Google- married since 2007
9 Sergey Brin $97.8 B age 47 Google- divorced
10 Amancio Ortega $84.7 B age 85 Zara- divorced

What do rich people fight about? Honey, you wrote five checks and didn't balance the checkbook. I'm sorry dear, do we have enough money to cover ourselves? Well there is about a billion dollar balance in the checking account, so we are probably fine.

the kids often turn out to be turds and they argue over how that happens, but I wouldn't think but what that's only one of many reasons

who was it that quipped that Gates found out Bezos was liking it just fine as a single billionaire? It's hard to say how unhappy divorced people are when they have that kind of money

I think you guys have this one a little backwards: Because they are rich, getting divorced doesn't really hurt them.

Think about it: When you look at the main reasons for a couple who are thinking about divorce to continue to try to ride it out, they are often:

1.) Too tough to dilute the money into two households if the husband is the primary earner, or the wife, I suppose. Basically, if there's a sole or primary earner, it's difficult.

---Rich people don't have that problem because they're ridiculously rich.

2.) Religious-based reasons.

---The wealthiest people in the world tend to be more intelligent that average. I'm not suggesting that a person can't simultaneously be religious and intelligent, but I do think they are more likely to be Agnostic/Atheist and also what the opinions of other members of the congregation (or what The Bible says) might not necessarily be as big of a concern for them.

3.) Childcare/Parenting/Schedules

---This is especially the case if both parents work and not just from a cost standpoint. That said, the costs of after school and/or weekend childcare can often be very prohibitive.

---Again, the rich people are rich, so they can afford this.

I honestly think the divorce rate would be much higher if there weren't often considerations beyond how do you feel about your relationship to your current spouse.

Quote: odiousgambit

It's hard to say how unhappy divorced people are when they have that kind of money

Sorting them by age out of the top 10 wealthiest men in the world only the youngest ones have stable marriages

age 36 Mark Zuckerberg $114.3 B Facebook - married since 2012
age 47 Sergey Brin $97.8 B Google- divorced
age 48 Larry Page $100.9 B Google- married since 2007
age 49 Elon Musk $165.7 B Tesla, SpaceX- divorced
age 57 Jeff Bezos $191.0 B Amazon - divorced
age 65 Bill Gates $130.5 B Microsoft - soon to be divorced
age 72 Bernard Arnault & family $181.7 B LVMH - divorced
age 76 Larry Ellison $103.8 B software - divorced 4 times
age 85 Amancio Ortega $84.7 B Zara- divorced
age 90 Warren Buffett $106.8 B Berkshire Hathaway - technically married 52 years, but Warren lived with another woman for more than half of his marriage

Divorce rates are high among all demographics (though they have been declining in the last decade).

Are billionaires higher than average? (I honestly don't know). I think the average for all couples is in the upper 40%s now.

Quote: Gandler

I think the average for all couples is in the upper 40%s now.

In the US 41% of first marriages end in divorce. Of the 10 wealthiest men in the world only 2 have stable marriages and they are both under age 50.
Although Warren Buffet had an arrangement and was not technically divorced, halfway through his 52 year marriage his wife introduced him to a woman who he lived with for the latter 26 years of his marriage. He only married her after his first wife died.

Rich men have single women after them 24/7 married or not. It becomes very hard to resist the temptation as your current wife grows older. Some women are very good at portraying themselves as everything the man wants in a woman. Almost 100% of the time a rich man marries a woman much younger than him for his next wife. This is universal and it's been that way forever. One of the exceptions was Prince Charles who divorced Diana and married his current wife who has basically been his girlfriend all his is life. You can't blame him for divorcing Diana, she was a real Nut Job.

Quote: Evenbob

Rich men have single women after them 24/7 married or not. It becomes very hard to resist the temptation as your current wife grows older. Some women are very good at portraying themselves as everything the man wants in a woman. Almost 100% of the time a rich man marries a woman much younger than him for his next wife. This is universal and it's been that way forever. One of the exceptions was Prince Charles who divorced Diana and married his current wife who has basically been his girlfriend all his is life. You can't blame him for divorcing Diana, she was a real Nut Job.

I was thinking of something...um...not really along those lines, but roughly the same tangent.

My thinking was that rich people are also under increased public scrutiny, compared to the average person, so the scandal that might be associated with getting caught having an affair might not be good for public image. For that reason, if they do want to seek out other partners, perhaps some would be more likely to get a divorce before doing so.

Could be an ego thing, i.e. "I built this, it's mine, why should you get half?"

Plus the people at the very top are so focused and consumed by their efforts to succeed that the normal satisfactions of life may pale in comparison.

Quote: missedhervee

Could be an ego thing, i.e. "I built this, it's mine, who should you get half?"

Plus the people at the very top are so focused and consumed by their efforts to succeed that the normal satisfactions of life may pale in comparison.

I don't know if I could come up with a precise dollar amount where I completely stop caring, but it's definitely a smaller number than whatever Bill Gates ends up with on the other side of this.