Patricia Kluge and her husband Bill Moses have declared personal bankruptcy, Bryan McKenzie writes for the Progress. The records filed so far provide only a range of financial figures, but they’re known to owe between $10M–50M with assets of just $1M-10M. Kluge’s (former) wealth came, famously, from marrying billionaire John Kluge in 1981, and divorcing him in 1990. Nobody knows for sure how much she got in the divorce, though estimates range from $1M/year in alimony payments to a $1,000M settlement. (John Kluge died last September.) Their winery was foreclosed on last year and bought by Donald Trump at auction. The next step in the bankruptcy is for the couple to provide a detailed list of their assets and creditors, and then the court will appoint a trustee to figure out how to deal with the financial mess, since Kluge and Moses are unable to do so themselves.
I suspect we’re all about to hear a bunch of stories about precisely who these creditors are—employees, contractors, and local vendors, all owed money that they may not see for years.
As I recall, in the divorce settlement she received the annual interest and profits from the investment of one billion dollars of principal. That billion of principal its self was to remain the property of John’s estate. The settlement was a long time and certainly the agreement might have changed since then.