Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison divorced after 21 years, 7 months of marriage. The settlement was reportedly about $118M. See the full timeline.
Figures are reported estimates. Last updated Oct 2026.
Mathison, screenwriter of E.T., received $118M from the Indiana Jones star.
Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison met on the set of Apocalypse Now, where she was working as an assistant to Francis Ford Coppola and he had a small role as a military officer. Mathison went on to become one of Hollywood's most admired screenwriters, and she wrote the screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. The couple married in March 1983 and had two children, Malcolm and Georgia. Ford, already famous as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, was building one of the most successful careers in modern cinema.
Ford's fortune came from a run of blockbuster film roles, including Star Wars, the Indiana Jones series, Blade Runner, Witness and The Fugitive, as well as later franchise returns. He became one of the highest-grossing actors in film history, and his box-office total is counted in the billions of dollars. Mathison's income as a screenwriter added to the family's resources. The couple's wealth grew steadily through the 1980s and 1990s, and a long marriage meant that most of Ford's earnings from his most lucrative decades were treated as shared property.
Ford and Mathison married in 1983, a few months after the release of E.T. During the next two decades Ford starred in many of his best-known films while Mathison wrote screenplays, including The Indian in the Cupboard and Kundun, and cared for their children. The pair separated in 2000, and the divorce was finalized in 2004 after 21 years of marriage. Ford then began a relationship with the actress Calista Flockhart, and the two married in 2010.
The divorce settlement was reported to be around $118 million, one of the larger Hollywood payments of the early 2000s. The couple divided assets without a prolonged public fight, and the amount reflected a share of Ford's film earnings and property. The agreement was understood to include provisions for the care of their children, and it was reached with relatively little public dispute compared with many celebrity divorces.
California is a community property state, and 21 years of marriage with a very high-earning husband led to a large division. Ford's income during the 1980s and 1990s, which included major fees for the Indiana Jones sequels and for hits such as Patriot Games and Air Force One, formed the bulk of the marital estate. Mathison also had her own career and earnings as a screenwriter, which helped to establish her financial independence, but her claim to a share of the family's much larger fortune was straightforward.
Ford's career carried on at a high level after the divorce. He continued to appear in major films, including a return to the Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises, and remained a leading box-office name into his seventies and eighties. The settlement did not force him to sell any business interests, as his fortune was based on salary and profit participation rather than on a company. Mathison died in 2015, and the later Star Wars and Indiana Jones films kept Ford at the center of Hollywood.
The Ford divorce is often compared with that of Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving, since both were linked to the E.T. era and both were notable for the size of the settlement. It shows how the very high earnings of a leading film star can produce a settlement comparable with those of sports and music stars, and also how relatively low-key a high-value divorce can be when both sides have strong careers.
Mathison worked on E.T. after meeting Spielberg through Ford's circle, and she was the first writer to be hired on the project. Ford was also a carpenter before becoming an actor, and he reportedly worked as a joiner for Hollywood stars before his break. He met Calista Flockhart at the Golden Globe Awards in 2002, and they married in 2010. The reported $118 million figure is an estimate rather than a confirmed court record.
Melissa Mathison's reported settlement was about $118 million.
They married in 1983 and divorced in 2004, a marriage of roughly 21 years.
No prenuptial agreement was reported.
Yes, the family is reported to include 2 children.
Reported assets include: Wyoming ranch, Los Angeles property, film royalties, aircraft.
California is a community property state, and 21 years of marriage with a very high-earning husband led to a large division. Ford's income during the 1980s and 1990s, which included major fees for the Indiana Jones sequels and for hits such as Patriot Games and Air Force One, formed the bulk of the marital estate.