Bill Gross and Sue Gross divorced after 43 years of marriage. The settlement was reportedly an estimated $1.3B. Full timeline and prenup facts inside.
Figures are reported estimates. Last updated Oct 2026.
Bond-market legend's very public split, reported at about $1.3 billion.
Bill Gross, the investor who co-founded the bond giant PIMCO and was long nicknamed the Bond King, and his wife Sue spent decades together in Southern California. They married in the 1970s, when Gross was still building his career in fixed-income investing, and raised three children. Sue Gross was largely a private figure for most of the marriage, while her husband became one of the most recognizable names in global finance, known for his market commentary and for an eye-catching art and memorabilia collection.
Gross's fortune came from PIMCO, the Pacific Investment Management Company, which he helped found in 1971 and which grew into one of the largest bond managers in the world, running trillions of dollars. His Total Return Fund became the biggest bond fund on earth. In 2014 he left PIMCO for Janus Capital, now Janus Henderson, after a bruising internal dispute. Years of partner payouts and bonuses were earned during the marriage, which meant that most of his wealth was treated as shared property.
The couple were married for more than four decades. Their split became public in 2016, when Sue Gross filed for divorce in California after what was described as a long period of difficulty. The proceedings were unusually bitter and drew press attention in part because of the couple's wealth and in part because of disputes over the family's real estate and valuables. A settlement was reached in 2017, ending the case after roughly 43 years of marriage.
Press reports put the settlement at around $1.3 billion, which at the time made it one of the largest divorces ever recorded. Court filings reported by the media described a division of homes, art and investments, although the final breakdown was not published in full. The reported sum is generally treated as an estimate. It placed the Gross divorce among the few cases in history to pass the billion-dollar mark.
California is a community property state, and the marriage lasted over 40 years, which made an equal split of the assets built during that time the natural starting point. Gross's wealth came from partnership income, bonuses and investments earned entirely during the marriage, and no prenuptial agreement was reported. A long marriage, a very large estate and a contested fight over specific properties all pushed the figure up.
The divorce took place long after Gross left PIMCO, so his former firm was not affected. His remaining wealth stayed invested through Janus Henderson, and he continued to publish market commentary. The family's high-profile properties on the California coast and a large collection of art and collectibles were among the assets that had to be divided or valued during the case.
At roughly $1.3 billion, the Gross divorce sits just below the Rupert Murdoch and Anna settlement and well above Steve Wynn's. It is one of the few billion-dollar divorces on this site to involve a financier rather than a founder of a technology or media company, which makes it a good example of how partnership income and investment gains can build a fortune just as large as a start-up.
Gross was widely known for his rare stamp and coin collections. He left PIMCO in 2014 after a very public clash with colleagues. The divorce was widely covered because of the sums at stake and because of the ferocity of the argument over the couple's possessions. The $1.3 billion figure is a media estimate.
Sue Gross's reported settlement was about $1.3 billion.
They married in 1974 and divorced in 2017, a marriage of roughly 43 years.
No prenuptial agreement was reported.
Yes, the family is reported to include 3 children.
Reported assets include: Laguna Beach estate, art collection, investment portfolio.
California is a community property state, and the marriage lasted over 40 years, which made an equal split of the assets built during that time the natural starting point. Gross's wealth came from partnership income, bonuses and investments earned entirely during the marriage, and no prenuptial agreement was reported.
* Settlement terms were not publicly disclosed. This figure is an estimate.