Johnny Depp Is So Rich: How Much of His Fortune Is at Stake in His Divorce From Amber Heard

The actors didn't have a prenuptial agreement, but Heard doesn't stand to make off with too much of her ex's Pirates booty

By Natalie Finn May 26, 2016 8:19 PMTags
Amber Heard, Johnny Depp, 2016 Grammy Awards, CandidsKevin Mazur/WireImage

Just how much of Johnny Depp's Pirates booty does Amber Heard stand to make off with?

The 30-year-old filed for divorce from the 52-year-old actor on Monday after 15 months of marriage, citing Sunday as their date of separation and checking off the box that indicates spousal support for her should still be on the table. Moreover, she wants Depp to pay her attorney fees.

"Petitioner's separate property assets and debts are unknown at this time. Petitioner shall seek leave to Amend same when such is ascertained," goes the legalese in the filing, obtained yesterday by E! News. Meanwhile, Depp's counter-petition, filed yesterday and obtained by E! today, requests that they each pay their own attorney fees and asks the court to terminate its ability to award support to Heard.

Sounds like a couple who were far too head over heels to talk brass tacks before tying the knot...

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We've been told, meanwhile, that they did not have a prenuptial agreement—so Heard could have some money 'n' stuff coming her way.

How much, of course, is the question.

She's perfectly successful, having appeared in dozens of movies over the years—including Magic Mike XXL and The Danish Girl while married to Depp—and she spent several years as the face of Guess. But Depp owns an island.

The 45-acre Little Hall's Pond Cay in the Bahamas is where he and Heard celebrated their nuptials just over a year ago, the actors first tying the knot in a civil ceremony at Depp's West Hollywood home. A 2009 Vanity Fair article, which noted he had six homes at the time, detailed the atmosphere on the island and aboard Depp's 156-foot yacht, the Vajoliroja.

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What we're saying is...he's so rich.

Only a fraction of his movies have made much money, relatively speaking, but a few of those also happen to be among the highest-grossing movies of all time and all told his films have grossed $8 billion worldwide. And though Forbes just nailed him in December as the "most overpaid actor" of 2015, factoring return at the box office relative to his to paycheck, the key word is "paid." The financial mag also reported that he took in about $30 million during the timeframe they used to calculate their list of 2015's top-earning celebrities.

The unofficial yet officially addictive site Celebrity Net Worth goes so far as to estimate his fortune at a whopping $400 million.

Regardless, Heard has no apparent legal claim to anything Depp earned or bought before they married on Feb. 3, 2015, because California is a 50-50 state, meaning spouses split communal property, i.e. whatever assets (actual cash, plus homes, cars, jewelry, stock holdings, tax refunds, the list goes on and gray areas abound) were acquired during the marriage, no matter who did the acquiring.

Over the past year Depp shot Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell and became the face of the men's fragrance Dior Sauvage, so cha-ching, cha-ching. However, he shot Through the Looking Glass, which opens tomorrow, in 2014. Alice in Wonderland made over $1 billion worldwide, and Depp's deal surely included a cut of the profits—and same goes for the sequel.

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But that also doesn't mean Heard just walks off with $15 million, or half of whatever it is he really banked, and Depp gets half of her Danish Girl paycheck. The 50-50 law isn't forced onto couples—two future exes can figure out what to do themselves and once they've agreed on the terms, a judge just needs to sign off to make it legally binding.

As tends to be the case with celebrity divorces, this could go very smoothly and quietly—or not.

Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com

If the court gets involved, spousal support could end up being a thing—though likely not for long. Heard's own earning potential (she's got The Justice League Part One and Aquaman on her to-do list) and the rather short duration of their marriage would affect how much money she'd be awarded in court.

Moreover, a California couple has to be married for 10 years in order for a judge to grant spousal support for as long as the grantee might need it, and these two obviously didn't come close.

But that doesn't mean Heard, in addition to being entitled to her half of the community property if the proceedings go that route, isn't going to end up with some money for her efforts.

When in L.A., she drove Depp's Range Rover and they were based out of the downtown penthouse he bought in 2007 for a reported $2 million, so it appears that he was footing many bills while they were together. E! News has learned that two units in the multi-unit penthouse were also occupied by two of Heard's best friends.

If Heard and Depp don't settle money matters themselves, any amount appointed by the court would be decided by multiple factors, including—according to California Family Code section 4320—the lifestyle the lesser-earning spouse became accustomed to during the marriage and whether she can afford it on her own, any effect the marriage had on her work, whether she suffered any mental or physical anguish during their marriage and, of course, the length of their marriage.

And that last one, at least, should help Depp out financially.

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