The shark gets bitten

The first hint of a crisis in Greg Norman's (the most underappreciated golfer ever) marriage emerged two weeks ago when he arrived in Sydney for the Australian Open promotion without his wedding ring.He'd been wearing it just two months earlier for Kerry Packer's memorial service. Turns out he and his wife of 25 years are splitting up. Laura is reported to be receiving $200 million in the settlement.

Now it's not a 50-50 split. They live in Florida, where divorces are settled with a signed marital settlement agreement that unlike many other US states, does not instantly divide a 50-50 split of a couples' wealth. Instead, the courts look at what is "fair and equable".

Well let's look at the Shark as a businessman. The BRW annual rich list this week listed the man who was ranked No. 1 in the world for 340 weeks as being worth $278 million, up from $250 million last year. He topped the magazine's sports earners list last year. Norman is chairman and CEO of Great White Shark Enterprises, which deals in golf course design, beef export, instant turf, sportswear, wine, restaurants and a production company.

Legal experts yesterday speculated that a long marriage (they married in July 1, 1981, or 30 days before I was born), and living with a workaholic husband, could be the deciding factors behind the divorce settlement. This is going to be one of the most expensive divorces in Australia history.

All I want to know is what did Laura do to earn 200 million dollars? How many clubs did she swing? How many business deals was she involved with? I don't know. But what has she done to deserve take that kind of money?

That's the thing with a lot of divorces, particularly with rich people and celebrities (Donald Trump). Many times the money that's made come from one person. And usually they're already rich. So they get married, it doesn't work, and a regualr Joe can just walk away with 200 million? Makes me wonder if some people (especially some women) get married just so they can get some cash. And if it doesn't work, at least they have a little consolation in their bank account. At least Florida is doing it right by not enforcing the 50-50 split of assets.