Jasbir Singh Panesar

John Cleese paid his third wife $20 million when they divorced. They had no children together. The payout left her richer than him. At 70, he had to go back on the road on what he called “The Alimony Tour.” They married in 1992. There was no prenup. Every hit that made him famous was written decades before they ever met. During their 16-year marriage, Cleese even paid to put her two sons from an earlier marriage through private school and college. In 2008, Alyce Faye Eichelberger filed for divorce in California. She asked for half of everything he had earned since 1992, plus $125,000 a month. The judge gave her $13 million in cash and real estate, including a New York apartment, a London flat, and half of his Santa Barbara beach house. Then he added $1 million a year for seven years. Cleese had to sell his own homes just to wire her the cash. About the payout, he said: “Think what I’d have had to pay Alyce if she had contributed anything to the relationship, such as children, or a conversation.” In the video below, Cleese walks out on stage and tells the crowd why he’s still working at 71: “I call it The Alimony Tour Year 3, or Feeding the Beast.” The case for Alyce: 16 years is a long marriage, and California splits marital wealth 50/50 when there’s no prenup. The case for John: handing $20 million from a childless marriage to a spouse who didn’t help build the fortune is legalized robbery. Do the math. Sixteen years of marriage. No kids. $1.25 million for every year. Should a childless divorce ever cost $20 million, or is that the price of skipping a prenup?