The contentious divorce proceedings between billionaire Ken Griffin and his wife opened the window a bit more into their lives Friday with two more filings that include disputes over a monthly stationery allowance and a broken bedpost.
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin filed the two petitions in Cook County Court disputing Anne Dias Griffin’s repeated requests to nullify the couple’s prenup agreement and move their children to New York.
In a volley of filings since Ken Griffin filed for divorce last July, his estranged wife has argued that she was coerced into signing the prenup and that he is obligated to pay living expenses for her and the couple’s three young children.
In Friday’s filings, Ken Griffin argues the $1 million monthly expenses Anne Dias Griffin claims – which includes use of a jet, $160,000 for vacations, $6,800 a month for groceries, $7,200 for restaurant meals, $8,000 in gifts and $2,000 a month in stationery – are a way for her to include the costs of her lifestyle in what she says she needs for child support.
Her lawyers have argued that under Illinois law, child support has to maintain the children’s lifestyle as it was during their parents’ marriage and that is all she has asked for.
Anne Dias Griffin claimed her husband missed multiple deadlines to file his required financial disclosures, which are part of the support determination. Ken Griffin filed his required financial disclosure on Friday, according to his spokesperson.
In the meantime, Ken Griffin has paid the children’s expenses, according to the petitions.
In filings, Anne Dias Griffin has claimed Ken Griffin pressured her to shut down her own hedge fund, Aragon, to spend more time with the family, leaving her without an income. In Friday’s filing, Ken Griffin countered he was the biggest investor in Aragon, and he continued to add money even after the fund had losses for four years.
He claims he later gave his wife another $30 million to launch a new hedge fund, Navarra, which closed after a few months of losses.
Ken Griffin also invested more than $1 million in his wife’s latest venture, news website Reboot Illinois, according to the filing. However, Madeleine Doubek, chief operating officer of Reboot Illinois, says Ken Griffin isn’t involved in the site and never has been.
Ken Griffin argues that because his wife accepted $1 million yearly payments as prescribed in their prenup — including $25 million she was entitled to on their wedding day — she had no problems with the agreement until now.
The two sides have gone back and forth over a single moment involving a bedpost – Anne Dias Griffin says it was broken, her husband says it was removed.
Anne Dias Griffin filed a request last fall for sole custody of the children to move them to New York. The issue came up even before they were married, with Ken Griffin saying she raised that possibility in the event of a divorce as the two negotiated their prenup in the days before their 2003 wedding.
In the latest filings, Ken Griffin claims his wife asked for a clause in the prenup that would allow her to move their future children to New York or San Francisco if they divorced.
As the two argued over this, Ken Griffin claims he accidentally removed a bedpost, “which resulted in a moment of levity ending the argument.”
“The parties slept in the very same bed together that night and for years thereafter,” he claims in the recent filings.
Anne Dias Griffin mentioned the bedpost in an earlier filing, saying her husband broke a piece of furniture during a particularly bitter argument over the prenup – one of many.
Friday’s filings even dispute the way Anne Dias Griffin felt in the days leading up to their wedding. She claims she was incredibly anxious and consumed with wedding plans, while her husband says she was excited and happy.
Ken Griffin wouldn’t agree to let the hypothetical children leave Chicago, according to the filing, and the couple signed the prenup.
A spokesperson for Anne Dias Griffin criticized Ken Griffin for his latest filings.
“Ken Griffin, one of the wealthiest men in the world, continues to lie with impunity and to brutally and shamelessly attack the mother of his children in an effort to avoid his financial responsibilities to his family,” the spokesperson said.
“Anne is saddened that he is using his enormous resources in an attempt to destroy her when it would be so easy for him to support his children as he always did during the marriage.”
