Michael Jordan’s First Wife Didn’t Have a Prenup so She Asked for Something Else
Michael Jordan met Juanita Vanoy in 1985 at a dinner with mutual friends. Three years later, they were married and had three children: Jeffrey, Marcus, and Jasmine. But something they did not have was a prenuptial agreement.
Read on to find out why and how much the six-time NBA Champion ended up having to pay his first wife when they got divorced.
Jordan and Vonay did not have a prenup
After the two got engaged, Vonay’s lawyer, Michael Milton, was hired to draw up a prenuptial agreement but as he told The Washington Post before he had a chance to meet with the couple, he “received a surprise phone call from Juanita telling him that she and Michael had gotten married at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas at 3:30 a.m. I congratulated her and then reminded her that the prenup had not been signed. She told me to work on a postnup.”
That postnup took over a year to finalize and was something the basketball star was reluctant to sign because, according to his lawyers, Milton “negotiated terms that were extremely beneficial and greatly exceeded any statutory benefit Vanoy would have received under Illinois law.” But Jordan did ultimately agree and sign it.
Unfortunately, the years in the spotlight took a toll on Vonay and Jordan’s relationship, and in 2002, they filed for divorce. However, they decided to reconcile shortly after the initial divorce announcement and said they were going to try and work on their marriage. Four years later though, they filed for divorce again, and this time, it was final.
“Michael and Juanita Jordan mutually and amicably decided to end their 17-year marriage,” their lawyers shared in a statement.
Vanoy reportedly received a jaw-dropping $168 million settlement as well as a seven-acre property outside Chicago. MJ also paid $2.1 million in legal fees, making it one of the most expensive celebrity divorces ever.
Jordan does have a prenup with his second wife, Yvette Prieto
Jordan met his second wife, Yvette Prieto, at a nightclub in 2008. After that, they began seeing each other and moved in together the following year. In 2011, Jordan proposed.
The pair said “I do” at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 27, 2013. After the ceremony, they had celebration at Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida, with their families and plenty of famous friends, including Tiger Woods, Spike Lee, and MJ’s former Chicago Bulls teammate Scotty Pippen. Music artists Usher and Robin Thicke sang at the reception.
Jordan and Prieto have two children together. They welcomed twin daughters, Ysabel and Victoria, in 2014. They also have a prenuptial agreement that pays Prieto $1 million for every year they stay married. Once they crossed the 10-year mark in 2023, the number jumped to $5 million per year.
Today, the former athlete has an estimated net worth of around $3.8 billion.
