Two math nerds, plus a 20-year marriage and not using a prenup and an $80 billion hedge fund equals the most important divorce in New Jersey’s historical past — and, probably, the third-biggest of all time.
The sensational break up between billionaire financier John Overdeck and his estranged spouse Laura Overdeck spilled into public view this month because it went to trial in New Jersey household court docket.
John Overdeck, the 56-year-old founding father of Manhattan-based funding agency Two Sigma, has been attempting to keep away from coughing up $6.2 billion that his soon-to-be ex-spouse contends he owes her of their bitter divorce.
If Laura Overdeck efficiently wins the astronomical sum, the couple’s divorce would solely fall behind these of Invoice and Melinda Gates and Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott as the costliest in US historical past.
However John Overdeck is preventing his spouse’s declare that his stake within the hedge fund counts as a marital asset, testifying Wednesday he couldn’t take nearly all of credit score for the agency’s success.
He claimed she deserved a a lot smaller share than she was demanding — and that the roughly $600 million settlement he provided her needs to be sufficient.
“Laura, I feel, was alongside me for all of this, and I feel it’s truthful that she obtained some quantity of the appreciation, the web appreciation that occurred throughout the marriage,” he stated.
“On reflection, I feel that $600 million roughly is a good quantity of that appreciation for her to obtain in remaining judgment.”
All through their marriage, he claimed he was at all times “immediate” in sharing the fruits of his funding successes together with his spouse in a joint account, “a lot in order that she was in a position to withdraw $75 million the day earlier than she filed for divorce.”
“We lived a cushty life on that cash,” he advised the court docket.
The pair’s lengthy path to a nondescript Newark courtroom started greater than twenty years in the past, with a romance that appeared so rock-solid they married with an announcement within the New York Occasions’ marriage ceremony web page — and and not using a prenuptial settlement.
A preternatural math expertise from Maryland, John Overdeck received the silver medal on the Worldwide Arithmetic Olympiad when he was 16 and graduated from Stanford College on the tender age of 19.
Overdeck quickly delved into the hedge fund world, working with a younger Jeff Bezos at DE Shaw & Co. He later described himself in court docket as “Jeff Bezos’ shadow” throughout the early days of Amazon.com.
Laura Overdeck, a Princeton College and Wharton College graduate, likewise labored within the hedge fund world — and, after tying the knot, threw herself into philanthropy.
Collectively, the couple based the Overdeck Household Basis centered on schooling in 2011. And Laura Overdeck parlayed her curiosity into her Bedtime Math nonprofit, producing acclaimed kids’s books and apps designed to assist spark curiosity in arithmetic.
In personal, the couple raised three kids in a 6,000-square-foot Millburn, New Jersey, mansion.
However the math whizzes’ marriage didn’t add up, court docket filings contend.
Laura Overdeck filed for divorce in 2022, and alleged that John Overdeck plotted for years to get out of the wedding as near scot-free as a billionaire and not using a prenup may.
He began laying the groundwork for a divorce simply 5 years into their marriage, allegedly conspiring with the couple’s legal professionals to cover belongings, court docket filings in a associated lawsuit contend.
The alleged covert flip towards splitsville coincided with Two Sigma’s progress, with the hedge fund now value roughly $80 billion.
The central query within the divorce — and the continued trial — is whether or not Laura Overdeck can declare her husband’s stake in Two Sigma as a marital asset.
She contends the agency, based in 2000, was little greater than a paper asset once they wed, whereas her erstwhile hubby argues it was already nicely established.
Finally, Laura Overdeck is searching for a 35% piece of John’s stake in Two Sigma — which her lawyer pegs at $6.2 billion.
John Overdeck allegedly provided a relative fraction of that eye-watering quantity, however it actually isn’t chump change: $633 million, in keeping with Laura Overdeck’s lawyer Theresa Lyons.
“John Overdeck is attempting to place the genie again within the bottle,” Lyons stated in court docket.
The result may additionally influence the route of Two Sigma, the place John Overdeck had a bitter falling out with fellow co-founder David Siegel.
The co-founders every personal roughly half the agency and have been battling for management since 2023.
A win by Laura Overdeck not solely would internet her an all-time divorce payout, but additionally probably tip the precarious stability of energy at Two Sigma into Siegel’s arms.
Past the rancorous battle over money, the divorce uncovered sordid accusations in opposition to each John and Laura Overdeck.
The hubby’s fencing teacher gal pal sued Laura Overdeck for defamation — accusing her of insinuating that she ruined their marriage and calling her a prison who ‘threatens folks with actual knives,” court docket papers reveal.
The accusations dovetail with weird 2023 police body-camera footage depicting a girl ranting to cops on the Overdecks’ mansion that John was “simply utilizing me.”
John Overdeck admitted to cops he was “relationship” the lady, however claimed they by no means had intercourse and even received bare in one another’s firm, the footage revealed.
Because the uncomfortable scene progresses, Laura Overdeck drove up and advised cops she wished each John and the gal pal gone.
“Frankly, it’s not even that difficult. He’s received a psycho girlfriend, and he’s received to get out. It’s not that difficult. Like, I simply need her to go away my children alone,’’ the spouse stated.
However Laura Overdeck additionally didn’t escape being sullied amid the divorce.
Accusations that she hacked John Overdeck’s pc, broke into his publish workplace field and deleted proof from her telephone led a decide to bar her from taking the stand within the trial.
Which means the trial will hinge on Overdeck’s ongoing testimony, which is ready to renew subsequent week.
He argued that his spouse’s publicity to Two Sigma principally concerned attending vacation events and when he handed out copies of her math-focused children’ guide sequence within the workplace.
She didn’t handle cash, make trades, funding selections or hires for the agency, he testified Tuesday.
“No, she didn’t,” he repeatedly responded to questions on Laura Overdeck’s involvement.
The financier additionally spilled particulars on their now-bygone dwelling life, recounting how his spouse did nearly all of parenting with the assistance of a full-time nanny and 15-hour-a-week housekeeper.
“I feel I used to be a reasonably lively dad for anyone who was working within the metropolis,” he testified. ”I coached all three of my children of their sports activities groups, and I virtually by no means labored on weekends and was usually at dwelling and engaged with the household. However I don’t wish to take away from the truth that Laura actually did extra at dwelling than I did.”
