Tom Cruise Reportedly Lost A Fortune From His First Marriage
Before Katie Holmes and Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise was married to "Austin Powers" actor, Mimi Rogers. However, their union was short-lived — and Cruise is said to have lost a whopping $4 million in the divorce settlement. However, that settlement wasn't without a catch.
The former couple started dating in the mid-1980s. Marriage was soon to follow, with Cruise and Rogers secretly wedding in 1987. However, in 1990, they split. As for the reason why Cruise and Rogers divorced, there are a few theories. In one interview with Talk magazine, Cruise was quoted as saying that they'd merely grown apart. "It was just two people who weren't meant to work and it wasn't what I wanted for my life," he mused (via "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography"). However, there's another possibility, too. Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2012, a former top-ranking Scientologist claimed that the organization's leader, David Miscavige had something to do with their divorce (and Cruise's subsequent split from Kidman). Without going into much detail, Marty Rathbun shared, "Both women got cold on Miscavige. He was integral to the breakup of the marriages."
Whatever the cause, the Evening Standard reported that Rogers walked away from the marriage $4 million richer. A fortune for most, to be sure. That said, we're not sure Cruise lost much sleep over it in the long run. As for the short term, well, let's just say the "Mission: Impossible" actor seems to have had an insurance policy in place.
Mimi Rogers' settlement came with Ts and Cs
News of how much Tom Cruise paid Mimi Rogers in their divorce settlement only broke because the latter had made a joke about it. It wasn't just any joke, though — this particular quip could have seen her lose the $4 million, stat.
To refresh, in March 1993, Rogers appeared in Playboy. In her interview with the magazine, she made a few allusions to the divorce, none of which mentioned David Miscavige. For starters, she hinted that she'd got a pretty good payout, even if seeing it being dissected in the press was tough. "Finances aside, divorce just sucks," she said. Rogers also joked that the marriage had ended over Cruise wanting to become a monk and practice celibacy. "He thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument. Therefore, it became obvious that we had to split," she said. Almost immediately after the interview was published, she backtracked, telling "The Tonight Show" that she had been joking (via the Evening Standard). The real kicker? Sources told the Evening Standard that she had been told that speaking about the relationship would compromise the $4 million settlement, and that was why she was so determined to set the record straight.
Unsurprisingly, Cruise has never addressed the issue, so it's not clear if Rogers did end up losing the settlement. However, Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Cruise's first ex-wife is worth $10 million today, so we'd say she's doing alright either way.
The settlement didn't put a dent in Tom's net worth
Here's hoping Mimi Rogers' divorce settlement wasn't compromised by her comments, because while $4 million is a lot of money (and, in today's terms, it would translate to a whopping $9.1 million), it's a drop in the ocean for the "Top Gun" actor. Let's just say, Tom Cruise is a very rich man, with Celebrity Net Worth estimating his net worth at a staggering $600 million. Pause for reaction.
Of course, that net worth didn't just happen overnight, and at the time of his divorce from Rogers, Cruise was earning substantially less for his projects. Prior to the divorce, the highest pay he had received for a film was $3 million, which he'd earned for 1988's "Rain Man" and "Cocktail." The year of his and Rogers' split, he more than doubled that, raking in a staggering $9 million for "Days of Thunder." And, of course, that was just the beginning. He would go on to amass major earnings from the "Mission: Impossible" series, and Celebrity Net Worth has estimated that he could make as much as $200 million from "Top Gun: Maverick."
In light of all that, Cruise's first divorce settlement kind of looks like spare change. Even so, based on the 1993 Evening Standard report, he was willing to fight for it at the time.