Divorce, Executive Style

When Robert I. Goldman, chief executive officer of Congress Financial Corp., filed for divorce from his wife, Vira, in 1996, he had good reason to expect the lion's share of their $100 million estate. After all, even the judge agreed that "Goldman's career was nothing short of spectacular." He became CEO of Congress (now a unit of First Union Corp.) in 1968, five years after his marriage. By 1996, he was earning $6.4 million a year and had $88.2 million in Congress stock. Meanwhile, New York State judge Walter B. Tolub Jr. observed, "Mrs. Goldman became the proverbial housewife." After becoming pregnant in 1966, she says she stopped teaching and spent the next three decades raising their daughter Olexa, cooking Robert's meals, following him into fitting rooms to make sure his suits looked good, and assembling a $2.5 million collection of antiques to stuff in their townhouse on New York's Sutton Place. "I was there for him 200% every step of the way," says Vira.

But if the Goldmans' marriage was traditional, their divorce was anything but. In the past, settlements involving the super-rich generally favored the spouse earning the most money. That was most often the man, who could usually count on keeping at least two-thirds of the couple's joint assets--and sometimes more. But in a stunning Apr. 22 decision, Tolub ruled that Vira Hladun-Goldmann (as she is now known) was entitled to 50% of the pie, including $44 million in restricted Congress stock that the company was obligated to buy back. It was the largest courtroom divorce award in New York history. "In a long-term marriage," Tolub decreed, "the distribution of marital property should be equal or as close to equal as possible."