By Brian Reed
InvestingAnswers.com

It's all fun and games until somebody takes a mistress. Or five.

Celebrity gossip is all the more juicy when it involves divorce court, not to mention millions of dollars.

In the past few years, we've seen our share of high-profile, messy divorces between athletes and their spouses -- some due to accusations of infidelity. Many of these athletes did sign prenuptial agreements, but they still lost a fortune after walking down the aisle. Here are our top six:

6 Wildly Expensive Athlete Divorces

 

Lance Armstrong

Kristin Richard met Lance Armstrong in the midst of his battle with testicular cancer. A year later, they married and had three children in their five years of marriage. Also during that time, Lance went from a great cyclist to an elite cyclist with four Tour de France titles.

 

6. Lance Armstrong

That success brought him great wealth and notoriety, so when the couple divorced in 2003, biographer Daniel Coyle reported that it cost Armstrong $14 million.

 

Greg Norman

With 20 wins and two majors, Greg Norman had a stellar golf career, and his success off the green was equally impressive. He has a popular golf clothing line, Golf Course Design Company, real estate development, a turf grass company and even a winery.

 

5. Greg Norman

So, when his marriage to Laura Andrassy ended after 25 years, even with a prenup, it cost Norman around $103 million. One reason behind the divorce was his getting a little too close with family friend/tennis great Chris Evert.

 

Michael Jordan

Long before his unsuccessful attempt at a baseball career and being a prominent face in Hanes commercials, "his Airness" married Juanita Vanoy in 1989. Jordan made an estimated $350 million on the court earned untold more millions through endorsements and business ventures.

 

4. Michael Jordan

Jordan actually signed a prenup a year after the wedding. The couple originally filed for divorced in 2002 but reconciled before finally divorcing in 2006 where Jordan paid Vanoy an estimated $168 million.

 

Alex Rodriguez

He married Cynthia Scurtis in 2003 but things hit the rocks after he was photographed in Toronto with an exotic dancer. Around a year later, after the birth of their second daughter, a reported hook up with Madonna pushed Scurtis over the edge. The couple did sign a prenup, according to Forbes.

 

3. Alex Rodriguez

Scurtis reportedly asked for half of all assets gained during the couples' marriage, along with the couple's $12 million waterfront estate in Florida and enough money to maintain her standard of living.

 

Tiger Woods

Tiger's six-year marriage with Elin Nordegren ended with an abrupt crash in 2010. The unraveling started with a mysterious car wreck at the Woods home on Thanksgiving 2009 and followed with a string of at least a dozen women alleging affairs with Tiger. The debacle cost him a number of endorsements.

 

2. Tiger Woods

One might say that Woods got off easy only paying a reported $100 million settlement considering his net worth is estimated to be between $500 and $600 million.

 

Kobe Bryant

You knew it was coming. After dropping $4 million on an 8-carat purple diamond ring, there weren't enough diamonds in De Beers' Empire to keep Vanessa Bryant married to Kobe.

 

1. Kobe Bryant

She filed for divorce alleging infidelity, which could cost Kobe dearly. The NBA star never signed a prenuptial agreement, so Vanessa is entitled to at least half of Kobe's entire fortune, an estimated $150 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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The Investing Answer: No one wants to talk about the possibility of divorce even before his or her marriage starts; some people think even talking about the concept of a prenuptial agreement is a guaranteed sign that a marriage will fail.

If you have significant assets or a highly marketable skill like these elite athletes, you'd have to be a fool not to sign a prenup before you get married. Learn the most important things about prenups in this InvestingAnswers feature, "4 Things Everyone Should Know Before Signing a Prenuptial Agreement."

Still, when it comes to the rich and famous, a prenup is no guarantee the divorce won't cost millions. You can always opt for a postnuptial agreement -- learn how by reading "4 Ways a Post-Nup Can Save Your Marriage."

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