ARTnews Prime 200 Collector David Geffen’s short-lived marriage has come to an unceremonious finish, with the billionaire leisure mogul reaching a non-public settlement along with his estranged husband, David Armstrong, capping months of unusually public authorized sparring.
Based on courtroom filings reported on by TMZ this week, Geffen, 83, and Armstrong, 33, have agreed to resolve their divorce, although the monetary phrases stay undisclosed. The cut up follows lower than two years of marriage and, crucially, no prenuptial settlement. It’s that element that helped flip the proceedings right into a high-stakes dispute over cash, life-style, and management that has generated a lot tabloid protection.
The information additionally comes forward of the opening of the Los Angeles County Museum of Artwork’s new constructing subsequent week, which is called the David Geffen Galleries.
What started as a comparatively simple separation rapidly escalated. Armstrong, a mannequin who has additionally passed by title Donovan Michaels, argued in courtroom filings that Geffen was trying to restrict spousal assist whereas sustaining a lifestyle that, he claimed, as soon as exceeded $3 million a month. Geffen, for his half, countered that he had already offered substantial assist, together with lots of of hundreds of {dollars} in funds and a New York condo.
The dispute ultimately widened past simply cash. Armstrong accused Geffen of withholding full disclosure of his wealth, evaluating their authorized battle to “David and Goliath,” citing the huge imbalance in assets between the 2. He additionally filed—and later withdrew—a civil lawsuit accusing Geffen of exploitation and claiming that he was handled as a type of “trophy,” manipulated psychologically, and even pushed into drug dependency as a type of management. Geffen’s authorized group dismissed these claims outright.
That lawsuit’s withdrawal marked a turning level, and introduced the battle again to the core problems with spousal assist and division of belongings. Nonetheless, the absence of a prenup and the disparity in wealth ensured that even a two-year marriage may carry hefty monetary implications.
In the long run, either side seem to have opted for closure as a substitute escalating issues additional. The settlement brings to a quiet finish a case that, for some time, gave a behind the scenes look into the non-public and monetary mechanics of certainly one of Hollywood’s most personal billionaire artwork collectors.
