Ben Zobrist net worth: Ex-MLB star's cheating wife Julianna demands extra $4M in divorce
Ben Zobrist and his now-estranged wife Julianna's marital problems stemming from her cheating with their family pastor Byron Yawn are still unfolding. The recent development in their story is how Julianna had "coaxed" Zobrist into going back to work in the face of him finding out that she had allegedly been cheating. This piece of information has been made public after Julianna claimed additional $4 million in divorce saying this is the money he failed to preserve by deciding to not honor his contract with his club which directly affected their household income.
Former Major League Baseball (MLB) star Ben Zobrist accused his wife of having an affair with their married pastor Yawn and sought $6 million in damages. He filed the lawsuit in May 2021 against Julianna who he has been married to since 2005 and they have three children. In the lawsuit, Zobrist also dragged Yawn for committing fraud via Zobrist's charity where he was employed. Yawn had also given marriage counseling to the Zobrists as well as individually counseled Zobrist who faced anxiety and depression in 2016. The lawsuit revealed Julianna and Yawn entered a sexual relationship in 2019, a year after using burner phones to communicate. The lid on their affair was blown after Yawn's wife found the burner phones and informed Zobrist.
RELATED ARTICLES
Ben Zobrist's wife Julianna slammed by fans over affair with pastor: 'She’s a hot mess'
How much money did Ben Zobrist's pastor steal? A look at Bryon Yawn's $15k trips and $36k salary
What is Ben Zobrist's net worth?
There are contradicting reports of Zobrist's net worth on the internet. A website named ExactNetWorth claims MLB's former superstar is worth $55 million. While NetWorthPlanet says Zobrist is worth $52 million and he drew an annual salary of $14 million while he was an active player.
Julianna's $4M request 'absurd', say Ben Zobrist's attorneys
Julianna is seeking an equal split of their marital assets. Zobrist has estimated their total marital estate to be worth $24 million while Julianna has claimed it to be just under $31 million. In addition to the even split, Julianna is also claiming an additional $4 million after Zobrist "intentionally and voluntarily" stopped playing and later retired. She says this move caused them financial distress. Zobrist “essentially went from the top of his game to basically giving up, which caused a massive loss in income.” Court documents claim she has asked for the additional millions for the “amount of money he failed to preserve by abruptly and intentionally failing to satisfy his baseball contract.”
Zobrist's attorney Helen S Rogers has called Julianna's request "utterly absurd" in a filing to Michael W Binkley. “Rather than accepting blame for having torn her husband’s heart out by having an affair with their pastor, she expected him to be able to totally focus in an elite athletic job that required (100%) of his physical and mental energy,” Rogers wrote. “It is Mrs Zobrist, by having the extramarital affair and confessing same to her husband, and not disclosing the true extent of her affair, that caused him such extreme mental distress and difficulty that resulted in an inability to finish his long and very successful career in the way that he had hoped for and planned for," she added.