Michael Douglas and Diandra Luker divorced after 22 years, 9 months of marriage. The settlement was reportedly about $45M. See the full timeline.
Figures are reported estimates. Last updated Oct 2026.
Luker later sued for a share of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps profits.
Michael Douglas, the son of the actor Kirk Douglas, and Diandra Luker, a Spanish-born daughter of a diplomat who was raised partly in Mallorca, met in the 1970s and married on 20 March 1977. Douglas was then known as a television actor in The Streets of San Francisco and as the producer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1976. The couple had one son, Cameron, born in 1978, and they stayed together as Douglas became one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
Douglas's wealth was built through a run of hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including Romancing the Stone, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and Basic Instinct. He also produced films through his production companies and earned large fees as a leading man. Most of his fortune was earned during the marriage, in the years when his career reached its peak. Diandra, who had supported him in his early career, had a claim to a share of that wealth.
The marriage lasted 23 years, from 1977 until 2000, and it covered the rise of Douglas from television actor to major film star. The couple separated in 1995 amid reports of Douglas's affairs, and he later said he had been treated for sex addiction, an episode widely reported in the press. The divorce was finalized in 2000, and Douglas married the Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in November 2000, a union that has lasted despite periodic reports of difficulties.
The settlement was reported at about $45 million, and Diandra also retained a share in some of Douglas's future earnings, reportedly including a portion of his income from a number of films. Press accounts also said she received property, including a house in Santa Barbara. The details were confidential, and the numbers are best understood as estimates from press reports. A large part of the settlement was later the subject of a dispute over Douglas's future income.
The marriage lasted more than two decades, and the main source of the couple's wealth was Douglas's earnings in the 1980s and 1990s. California's rules on community property meant that Diandra was entitled to half. She also negotiated a share of his future earnings on specific projects, which was an unusual feature of the agreement and caused further disputes years later.
The divorce had a lasting effect on Douglas's finances, because the agreement gave Diandra a share in his earnings from certain films, including the Wall Street sequel. In 2010 she went to court to claim a share of the income from Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and other work, and Douglas settled the claim in a separate agreement. Douglas's career continued strongly, and he won an Emmy award for playing Liberace in Behind the Candelabra.
The Douglas divorce is a classic example of a long Hollywood marriage in which the wife's contribution to her husband's early career was recognized in the settlement. In some respects it is an earlier version of the Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison case. It also includes the unusual feature of an interest in future earnings, which makes it different from most settlements involving a lump sum.
Douglas is the son of the film legend Kirk Douglas. He and Catherine Zeta-Jones share a birthday, 25 September, though they were born 25 years apart. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010 and recovered. Diandra's later legal claim in 2010 over royalties was one of the notable post-divorce disputes in Hollywood. The $45 million figure is a reported estimate.
Diandra Luker's reported settlement was about $45 million.
They married in 1977 and divorced in 2000, a marriage of roughly 23 years.
No prenuptial agreement was reported.
Yes, the family is reported to include 1 children.
Reported assets include: Bermuda estate, California property, film royalties.
The marriage lasted more than two decades, and the main source of the couple's wealth was Douglas's earnings in the 1980s and 1990s. California's rules on community property meant that Diandra was entitled to half.