Will Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's prenup cost the couple millions after divorce? Here's who'll get what
The celebrity couple duo, rapper Kanye West and reality star Kim Kardashian West, are reportedly getting a divorce. While some are disappointed, it can't be said that this wasn't expected. We're sure everyone remembers Kanye's rant about a possible divorce at his first rally in South Carolina on July 19 where he revealed that the couple had discussed aborting their firstborn, North West. Not to mention, he posted some shocking tweets as well that month.
While many are wondering when (and if) the divorce will be finalized, or who will get custody of their four children — North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm — we're also wondering about the hit the couple's financial assets may take. They're obviously millionaires — Kanye a billionaire — but will their prenuptial agreement save them from losing a fortune? Of course, as of now very little has been revealed on any of that because neither of the duo's reps has commented on their possible divorce, but their prenup will most likely be the center of attention for a bit should their divorce move forward.
Sources have told Page Six that “divorce is imminent” for the couple with Kim even hiring celebrity lawyer Laura Wasser to move forward with the divorce. This is the same lawyer who helped the reality star with her previous divorce to Kris Humphries. The lawyer has even represented big stars such as Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, so we can only imagine the fees for her skills. When it comes to assets, Page Six did reveal a bit on it.
The article claimed that the "biggest sticking point" in the Hollywood divorce settlement is the couple's family home in Calabasas, California. The rapper "masterminded" the redesign that had Architectural Digest call the finished product “an oasis of purity and light". A source told Page Six that "Kim is trying to get Kanye to turn over the Calabasas house to her because that’s where the kids are based and growing up. That is their home." According to the report, Kim is the one who owns the "land and adjoining lots" around the house itself but Kanye owns the actual home. "They’ve both put a lot of money into renovating it," the source revealed. Apparently, another source has also revealed that while there are talks about the settlement, the couple is yet to converse about the division of their properties. According to Business Insider, the duo owns multiple properties including their $14M ranch in Cody, Wyoming.
While the couple was prepping to get married in 2014, a RadarOnline article revealed that the couple was in their "final stages" of the prenuptial agreement which saw Kim getting $1M for every year that she remains married to the rapper. While the article claimed that the prenup process was "extremely easy", we'd have to say that the prenup's part in the divorce could prove to be messy since both the stars have increasingly gotten richer since their marriage. Ironically enough, it was reported that West didn't even want a prenup and was "ready to give Kim carte balance to all his financial assets" because he "loves Kim that much". We wonder if that will hold true should this divorce proceed.
It was revealed that while Kim gets $1M for every year she's married to the rapper, that amount is capped at $10M, and while Kanye paid most of the bills on their mansion in Bel Air, the title of that home will be in Kim's name. Lastly, the reality star will still be in possession of all the gifts that her husband has gifted her. The article also reported that the cash that the reality star ears from the reality show, 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians', her clothing line and promotional agendas will be listed as "sole income". Even more shockingly, Kanye's life insurance policy at $20M will see his wife as the beneficiary for life even if the couple ends up in divorce.
Further, an article by FOX Business on July 26 revealed that should the couple get a divorce, experts say that it could be "tricky". Since their marriage, Kanye was named a billionaire by Forbes since his Yeezy stake was valued to be around $100M in 2014. Kim went from an estimated fortune of $30M to $370M by last summer, based on Forbes. The publication revealed that Kim made $49.5M in 2019 alone, thanks to KKW Beauty that generated around $100M in sales that year.
Since her marriage, she also founded and launched Skims in 2019, which FOX Business reported raised $5M in venture capital from Imaginary Ventures. It was reported that should the divorce become final, Kanye and Kim could risk losing a huge fortune individually or just go out with what they came in, according to attorney Sherri Sharma. Sharma told Fox, "First of all, I would be shocked if they didn't both have a strong interest to have a prenup in place because they both came to the table with significant wealth. But assuming that they had a prenuptial agreement, it would address the financial issues, and it would vastly simplify how assets were divided in a divorce. What the prenup would likely provide people with their sort of financial situation is that everything that they came to the marriage with – whatever assets they had in their name at that time – they would leave with, and to the extent that they continued to acquire assets or grow their business during the marriage, all of that would be off the table."
The attorney also gave a bit of insight on the duo's possible property division adding, "If they have a prenuptial agreement, it will govern how property – regardless of where it is – gets divided and it will simplify it. Even if they don't have a prenuptial agreement, what is the most relevant is where the divorce takes place, which in their case would be in California and would mean a 50-50 division of assets. That's another potentially complicating factor because depending on the nature of the asset, if it's real estate, for example, if they can't agree who's going to keep it and who's going to buy the other person out, it gets sold. If one of them wants to keep the property, they have to agree on a value. So then they have to get it appraised and that is a whole process that takes time, also.”
So we guess time will tell how the divorce will pan out when it comes to the couple's financial assets. But, with Hollywood couples, nothing remains private for too long although it has been reported that the couple wants to do this as quietly as possible.