Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva divorced after 16 years of marriage. The settlement was reportedly about $80M. Settlement details, timeline and prenup facts.
Figures are reported estimates. Last updated Oct 2026.
Silva received $80M from the Dances with Wolves star.
Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva met as students at California State University, Fullerton, and married in 1978. At the time, Costner was a marketing graduate who would soon abandon a conventional career to become an actor. Silva stood beside him through years of small roles and rejections, and the couple had three children, Annie, Lily and Joe. She was an important part of his early life and was working while he struggled to establish himself in Hollywood.
Costner's fortune came after the marriage had begun. He broke through in the late 1980s with Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, then achieved fame as an actor and director with Dances with Wolves (1990), which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner. He followed with JFK, The Bodyguard, and Waterworld, and he became one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors. The overwhelming majority of this wealth was earned during the marriage to Silva.
They married in 1978 and stayed together through Costner's rise from unknown to superstar. In 1994 they ended the marriage after 16 years, with Costner's fame at its height. He had by then become one of the leading figures in film, with an Oscar to his name. Costner later married Christine Baumgartner in 2004, and the two divorced in 2023, a case that appears elsewhere on this list.
The settlement was reported at about $80 million, which at that time was one of the biggest in Hollywood. The exact terms were private, but reports said Silva received a large share of Costner's assets and income. The couple agreed on custody of their three children. The sum is a press estimate and has not been confirmed by court records.
Costner's career in the early 1990s was one of the most lucrative in Hollywood, with fees that were among the highest in the industry. Since he and Silva had been together since before his rise, her claim to the wealth was strong, and California's community property law meant that the marital estate was split equally. The couple's long history and her role in the early years helped to explain the generosity of the settlement.
Costner's financial position was affected by the cost of the settlement, but his career went on, and he starred in many more films. A significant setback was the failure of Waterworld and The Postman, both of which lost money. He later moved into television, and his role in the series Yellowstone brought him new success and fame in the 2010s. Silva withdrew from public life.
At $80 million, the Costner and Silva divorce was an early example of a large Hollywood payout, and it is closely linked to the later divorce from Christine Baumgartner. Together, the two divorces make Costner one of the actors who paid the most in divorce settlements. It also resembles the Spielberg and Irving case in that both involved a Hollywood star whose greatest success came after the marriage began.
Costner was a marketing student who worked as a stage manager and in other jobs before acting. His first marriage lasted nearly 16 years. He directed and starred in Dances with Wolves, a film that many studios had expected to fail. Silva has avoided publicity. The $80 million sum is a reported estimate.
Cindy Silva's reported settlement was about $80 million.
They married in 1978 and divorced in 1994, a marriage of roughly 16 years.
No prenuptial agreement was reported.
Yes, the family is reported to include 3 children.
Reported assets include: Aspen property, California real estate, film royalties.
Costner's career in the early 1990s was one of the most lucrative in Hollywood, with fees that were among the highest in the industry. Since he and Silva had been together since before his rise, her claim to the wealth was strong, and California's community property law meant that the marital estate was split equally.