After a year of protracted negotiations, Jordan agreed to pay his estranged wife Juanita an unprecedented divorce settlement of $168 million (approx £80 million). Juanita's final severance package also includes the Jordans' seven-acre estate in Highmoor, Chicago and custody of their three children.

The Jordans' settlement surpasses the world's most expensive celebrity divorce in which singer/songwriter Neil Diamond paid his ex-wife Marcia Murphey £75 million. Diamond received plaudits after publicly declaring that Murphey, who he had met before he became famous, was worth every penny she received.

All you need is cash

Jordan’s settlement certainly dwarfs Britain’s highest profile celebrity divorce battles. Heather Mills’ pending divorce from Sir Paul McCartney is set to earn her £50 million despite her highly publicised breakfast TV outburst and impassioned promotion of drinking rat’s milk. In a more amicable split, Celebrity Big Brother couple Chantelle Houghton and Samuel Preston agreed to split their assets 50/50 after their marriage broke down after just 10 months.

But even the most expensive celebrity divorces are put in the shade by the whopping £155 million settlement paid by Roman Abramovich to his wife Irina after the couple separated in November 2006. The former Aeroflot stewardess’ severance package includes home in Britain and Moscow, a yacht and a private plane. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the divorce has made Irina Abramovich the 41st richest woman in Britain.