Laura is asking for 35 per cent of John’s stake in Two Sigma Investments, which her lawyer values at about $6.2 billion, in addition to hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds and equal control of the family foundation.
Her legal team claims John offered her approximately $633 million in an attempt to minimise the amount she would receive from the divorce settlement.
John’s lawyer disputed the claim, saying the billionaire had instead offered Laura a $723 million tax-free equitable settlement.
At the centre of the dispute is whether John’s stake in Two Sigma should be treated as marital property.
John’s lawyers argue that the hedge fund was founded two years before the couple married in 2002 and had already become an established business before their marriage.
Laura’s legal team, however, maintains that Two Sigma had little tangible value when the couple married and that the substantial growth of the company during their marriage should make her entitled to a share.
The couple reportedly married without signing a prenuptial agreement. Their divorce proceedings began in 2022, with the ongoing case described as the biggest contested divorce battle in New Jersey history.
John, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at about $8 billion, co-founded Two Sigma with David Siegel. The pair each reportedly own roughly half of the investment firm and have also been involved in a high-profile power struggle over the company.
Laura is no stranger to the financial world, having previously worked in hedge funds before founding the Bedtime Math nonprofit in 2012.
She is also suing her husband’s former estate law firm, Seward & Kissel, accusing the firm of helping John shield assets during their marital dispute.
The case is expected to determine how billions of dollars in assets accumulated around Two Sigma will be divided, making it one of the most closely watched billionaire divorce battles in the United States.
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