Two decades after they split, the founder of Rolling Stone has finally divorced his wife of 43 years, so he could begin a new life as a gay man.
With a secret multimillion dollar settlement, Jann and Jane Wenner have formally gone their separate ways that paves the way for him to get married to his long time boyfriend.
Speculation was rife that the divorce would cause the break-up of the Wenner Media publishing empire, which also included Us Weekly, Men’s Journal and Family Life.
The divorce was first announced this summer.
Even after so many years of being apart, the arrangements are agreeable to both sides, according to reports. Mr. Wenner will be free to marry his boyfriend, Calvin Klein model and designer Matt Nye and Miss Wenner will apparently get a large cash sum.
Wenner Media is now carved up, which has made its founder worth a reported $500 million. Mr. Wenner and his ex-wife have already put the company in a trust and they will continue to split the profits. Along with nieces and nephews, the ownership has passed down to their three children.
Mr. Wenner lives in New York where the laws were recently changed to allow gay marriage.
Along with the three born naturally to his ex-wife, Mr. Wenner has three children born by surrogate with Mr. Nye.
Miss Wenner has remained a vice president at Wenner Media, which she helped found in 1967, despite splitting from her husband 16 years ago.
She and some of her husband’s relatives lent him $7,500 that year to found his first magazine, Rolling Stone. Thanks to the writing from the likes of Hunter S. Thompson and Joe Klein, it quickly became the mouthpiece of the counter cultural generation.
Mr. Wenner would court for interviews in his magazines. A Berkley dropout, he became known for mixing amongst the royalty of the day including Jackie Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger.
He later acquired titles like Men’s Journal as his empire grew. He founded the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in 1983, which inducts new members from the rock establishment every year.
Now with success behind him, Mr. Wenner boasts of his own private jet and his office in Manhattan which is almost the size of a football field.
Richard Gere, David Geffen and Fox creator Barry Diller are among his friends in the wide social circle.
His homes include a 6,300-square-foot, three-story waterfront home in the Hamptons in New York which cost $11.9 million. It has eight bedrooms, 6 1/2 baths and sits on 1 1/2 acres.
There is also a ski condo in Sun Valley, Idaho built in the Bavarian Edelweis style and a $5.8 million country home in upstate New York.
Property movements between the Wenners suggest that their formal separation has been a long time coming.
Mr. Wenner sold to Ms. Wenner his share of the East Hampton property they had long shared together for $17.57 million, making her the sole owner. Paul McCartney, Sarah Jessica Parker and Alec Baldwin are among the neighbors of the mansion.
Ms. Wenner also bought his stake in a Manhattan townhouse months ago.
Ms. Wenner filed for divorce in the New York Supreme Court in June, according to the New York Post. On September 28 the arrangements were finalized and on October 12 themarriage officially ended.
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